PARIS: FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday thatthere was not enough time to wholly rewrite Britain's Brexit divorce dealbefore an Oct 31 deadline. Johnson met Macron at the Elysee Palace a day aftertalks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who challenged Britain tocome up with alternatives to the agreed safety net provision for the UK-Irishland border.
More than threeyears after the United Kingdom voted to quit the European Union, it is stillunclear on what terms - or indeed whether - the bloc's second largest economywill leave the club it joined in 1973. Macron left the door open to Britainseeking a solution to the Irish "backstop", but said any alternativemust respect both the integrity of the EU single market and stability on thedivided island of Ireland. "I want to be very clear: in the month ahead,we will not find a new withdrawal agreement that deviates far from the original,"Macron said after a warm handshake with the British premier.
However, theBritish pound, sensitive to the prospect of a 'no-deal' exit, jumped more thanhalf a cent after Merkel said she had not set Johnson a 30-day deadline topropose a solution to the border issue, and that it could be achieved by Oct31. On his first trip abroad since entering 10 Downing Street a month ago,Johnson has warned Merkel and Macron that they face a potentially disorderlyno-deal Brexit on Oct 31 unless the EU does a new deal.
'Let's get Brexitdone'
Johnson toldMacron that he believed it was still possible to agree one in time for the Oct.31 deadline, and that he had been "powerfully encouraged" by what hehad heard from Merkel on Wednesday. "Let's get Brexit done, let's get itdone sensibly and pragmatically and in the interests of both sides and let'snot wait until October 31," Johnson said. "Let's get on now indeepening and intensifying the friendship and partnership between us."
Johnson, anardent Brexiteer, is betting that the threat of 'no-deal' Brexit turmoil willconvince Merkel and Macron that the EU should do a last-minute deal to suit hisdemands. He has repeated promises to leave on Oct. 31 - with or without a deal.Macron insisted Britain's destiny lay in Johnson's hands alone. He said the EUdid not want a 'no-deal' scenario, but would be ready if it happened. Thepolitical crisis in London over Brexit has left allies and investors puzzled bya country that for decades seemed a confident pillar of Western economic andpolitical stability.
Many investorssay a 'no-deal' Brexit would hurt the economies of Britain the EU and the widerworld, roil financial markets and weaken London's position as the pre-eminentinternational financial centre. Macron said that any new solution to theproblem of the Irish border had to be found in the next month. Signaling thatthe ball was in the UK's court, he said: "If we cannot find alternatives,then it will be because of a deeper problem, a political one, a Britishpolitical problem. "And for that, negotiations can't help. It will be upto the prime minister to make that choice, it won't be up to us."
Irish border
After Brexit, thefrontier between Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland will be theonly land border between the EU and Britain. The EU wants to ensure that itdoes not become a back door for goods to enter the EU's single market - whichguarantees free movement of goods, capital, services and labor.
Ireland for itspart says checks could undermine the 1998 Good Friday agreement, which broughtpeace to Northern Ireland after more than 3,600 died in a three-decade conflictbetween unionists who wanted the province to remain British and Irishnationalists who want it to join a united Ireland ruled from Dublin. Thebackstop, negotiated by Johnson's predecessor Theresa May, provides for Britainto remain in a temporary customs union with the EU after Brexit, avoiding theneed for any 'hard' border infrastructure, until a better solution is found.
But Johnson saidin Paris: "Under no circumstances will the UK government be instituting,imposing, checks or controls of any kind at that border. We think there areways of protecting the integrity of the single market and allowing the UK toexit from the EU." Brexit supporters acknowledge that there may beshort-term disruption from a 'no-deal' exit but say the UK will thrive if cutfree from what they cast as a doomed experiment in integration that has ledEurope to fall behind China and the United States.- Reuters