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Agence France-Presse

Britain on Sunday urged the EU to intensify talks over London’s latest Brexit proposals, despite European leaders warning it must revise the plans in order to conclude a deal this month.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the bloc needed to show “creativity and flexibility” ahead of October 31 – when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to end the country’s 46 years of EU membership with or without an agreement.
With the EU asking for reworked proposals within days, Barclay reiterated that the ideas Johnson has formally submitted to Brussels were “a broad landing zone” and “intense negotiations in the coming days” were now necessary.
“We’ve set out very serious proposals including compromise on our side,” he told the BBC.
“We do need to get into the intensive negotiations on the text to clarify what the deal is.”
Barclay added the government was considering holding a parliamentary vote ahead of a make-or-break EU summit on October 17-18 to show Brussels the plans have MPs’ support.

But European leaders, who have reacted tepidly to the propositions and urged London to offer a revised, viable way forward, are yet to agree even to ramp up negotiations.
They reportedly balked at Britain’s request to keep initial discussions on the proposals going through the weekend, and they will resume Monday, with time running out ahead of the summit.
“If the offer from the UK turns out to be a take-it-or-leave-it, it’s going to be very difficult,” Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told the BBC on Sunday.
“It’s fully dependent on the will of Mr Johnson because from the European side, we’re always open and looking towards a deal.”
Johnson began phoning European leaders this weekend to sell his proposals, speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron Sunday following talks with Dutch Premier Mark Rutte Saturday, according to his Downing Street office.
It did not release details of the conversations, but few signs of encouragement emanated from Europe.
Rutte tweeted he had told Johnson “important questions remain about the British proposals” and “there is a lot of work to be done ahead” of the summit.
Meanwhile the EU’s top negotiator Michel Barnier told an event in France Saturday that while an agreement was still possible it “will be very difficult to reach”.
Boris Johnson will seek Brexit delay if no deal reached, court told
The British leader is hoping the threat of a messy no-deal departure in less than three weeks could force the EU to compromise.
That is despite British MPs passing a law last month that requires him to seek another Brexit delay if he fails to secure an agreement by the end of the summit.
Barclay said Sunday that the government would comply with the legislation.
But in identical articles for two Brexit-backing British tabloids, Johnson insisted the country will leave the bloc later this month.
“They should be under no illusions or misapprehensions,” he wrote in the Sunday Express and the Sun on Sunday.
“There will be no more dither or delay. On October 31 we are going to get Brexit done.”
The British proposals submitted to Brussels Wednesday centre on how to manage the post-Brexit border between British province Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.




Johnson wants Northern Ireland’s devolved assembly – which has been suspended for almost three years – to vote every four years on whether to maintain EU rather than British regulations there.
He has also proposed the province leaves the EU’s customs union along with the rest of Britain, with required checks to rely on untried technology and carried out away from the sensitive border.
Brussels has said the plans “do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement”.
It sees the potential for rampant smuggling while Ireland is concerned hardline Northern Irish unionists would have an effective veto.
Barclay, who will travel to Amsterdam Sunday for Brexit talks, suggested Britain could be willing to consider alternative ways of meeting its aims.
“We’re ready to work on that,” he said.
Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar said Saturday there is “plenty of time” to put forward alternatives and he was trying to arrange a meeting with Johnson next week, Irish broadcaster RTE reported.


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Brexit

Britain calls for ‘intensive negotiations’ with the EU on new Brexit plans

Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit Minister) Stephen Barclay (R) gestures as he speaks to Andrew Marr (L) during an appearance on the BBC. Photo: Handout via AFP

FILE PHOTO: Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar waves as he meets Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Dublin, Ireland, September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

Boris Johnson will seek Brexit delay if no deal reached by mid-October, court told

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson listens in the audience on the second day of the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday. Photo: AFP

04 October 2019, England, London: Cake maker Rosie Dummer makes the final touches to a life-sized Boris Johnson cake at the Cake and Bake Show at ExCeL convention centre. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA Wire/dpa

Demonstrators on Friday hold signs in front of the Court of Session in Edinburgh, which is currently hearing a lawsuit to ensure that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson requests a Brexit extension if he refuses to comply with the provisions of the Benn Act. Photo: dpa

EU gives Boris Johnson one week to improve Brexit offer or face delay

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers his keynote speech on the closing day of the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Anti Brexit protesters demonstrate through the streets as part of the Reject Brexit-Defend Our Democracy protest, in Manchester, England, Sunday Sept. 29, 2019. The ruling Conservative Party is committed to Britain's Brexit split from the European Union to leave on the scheduled date of Oct. 31, as they hold the annual party conference in Manchester. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

British PM Boris Johnson promises ‘compromise’ Brexit offer to European Union

Boris Johnson delivers his keynote speech on the closing day of the annual Conservative party conference. Photo: Bloomberg

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney walks out of EU headquarters in Brussels after a meeting with European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. Michel Barnier is meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and UK Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay seeking a way to unblock the stalled negotiations on Britain's withdrawal from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Britain's Brexit advisor David Frost arrives for a meeting with European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to send to Brussels what he says is the U.K.'s "final offer" for a Brexit deal, with the date set for Britain's departure less than a month away. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker arrive for a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A conference delegate wearing a T-shirt in support of Boris Johnson, U.K. prime minister, attends the premier's keynote speech on the closing day of the annual Conservative Party conference at Manchester Central in Manchester, U.K., on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. Johnson is poised to issue an ultimatum to the European Union on Wednesday: negotiate Brexit on his terms within the next nine days, or face a no-deal divorce. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Traffic passes an anti-Brexit pro-Irish unity billboard seen from the Dublin road in Newry, Northern Ireland, on October 1, 2019 on the border between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Irish Republic. - Britain will give the EU new proposals for a Brexit deal "shortly", Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on October 1, but rejected reports it would see customs posts along the Irish border. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)

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Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the European Union needed to show ‘flexibility’ as the deadline of October 31 draws ever closer



Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the European Union needed to show ‘flexibility’ as the deadline of October 31 draws ever closer.
