Robert Stevens
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson left Paris empty-handed Thursday following talks over Brexit with French President Emmanuel Macron. Johnson met Macron after departing Berlin a day earlier, having failed to secure concessions from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Johnson, who replaced Theresa May as prime minster last month, has staked his premiership on the UK leaving the European Union (EU) on October 31, with or without a deal.
Johnson pleaded with Merkel and Macron to offer him a deal that he can sell to parliament, including the removal of the Irish border backstop that was agreed with May. The backstop is an integral part of the current withdrawal deal and is the EU’s insurance policy against the return, post-Brexit, to a hard border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Irish Republic, which remains an EU member.
While Merkel told Johnson that changes to the deal’s accompanying political declaration could provide a solution, at a later stage, to the backstop dispute, she applied maximum pressure by stating that “maybe we can find that solution in the next 30 days.”
Her remarks were seized on by the UK’s pro-Brexit media as evidence that Johnson had secured a major concession. But Merkel’s statement was made in full knowledge that Johnson will be unable to square the circle over the Irish border question. He faces bitter opposition to any compromise from Conservatives and from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party MPs, who prop up his minority government.
Norbert Röttgen, a leading figure in Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and chair of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, immediately shot down in flames any suggestion of a backdown by Merkel: “She did not move one millimetre… At no point did she suggest that Germany is ready to abandon the backstop. The German position is the same as the European position… She is putting the onus on Johnson. But everyone knows that you cannot find a solution for something in 30 days that has not been found in three years.”
Macron agreed with Merkel, saying that the “withdrawal agreement can be amended,” while insisting that the “Irish backstop is indispensable.” He warned, “We will not find a new Withdrawal Agreement in the next 30 days that is much different from the existing one… We have to respect what has been negotiated."
Macron told reporters after meeting Johnson, “Renegotiation of the terms currently proposed by the British is not an option that exists, and that has always been made clear by [EU] President [Donald] Tusk…” The EU was not to blame for a no-deal outcome as “A hard Brexit ... will be the responsibility of the British government.”
Clutching at straws, the pro-Brexit Daily Express claimed that Johnson appeared to punch the air with both hands in a “victory salute” after returning to London. His meetings had seen a “stubborn EU crumble.”
However, another pro-Brexit newspaper, the Sun, owned by billionaire oligarch Rupert Murdoch, warned that Johnson’s meetings with Merkel and Macron had paved the way for a no-deal outcome. It editorialised, “It’s clear that there is some flexibility on the Continent,” before concluding, “We remain sceptical that the EU really has seen the light, and that they’ll finally—after three long years—negotiate in good faith.” It denounced Irish premier Leo Varadkar, who opposes any removal of the Irish backstop. “If Varadkar continues to insist that it’s the only deal possible, what does he think will happen?”
On Friday afternoon, Johnson said he would “turbocharge” arrangements to find a solution to the backstop, but he played down chances of a breakthrough. While “progress” had been made, his government had to “prepare to come out without an agreement. We can do that. We are very confident.”
Ahead of parliament’s return from summer recess, MP’s opposing a no-deal Brexit are finalising their manoeuvres.
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