UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said today that the “contours” of a Brexit deal are now “very clear”. And, the meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU leaders in Luxembourg is an “important milestone”. The EU summit on October 17-18 is “the place where a deal can be done.”
He added “our requirements are very clear: we want to remove the anti-democratic backstop and we want to be able to transition our future relationship to a best in class free trade agreement.” Still, if there is no agreement, Raab said the UK will leave on October 31.
Juncker reiterated on Sunday that there is no possibility of reopening the Withdrawal Agreement. And, I am not optimistic when it comes to finding alternative arrangements that will allow us to limit the Irish backstop,” he said. He added, “We do not know what the British want in detail, precisely and exactly, and we are still waiting for alternative proposals. I hope we can get it, but time is running out.”
