London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

EU gives Boris Johnson ultimatum: Show us Brexit plan in 12 days or ‘it’s over’

EU gives Boris Johnson ultimatum: Show us Brexit plan in 12 days or ‘it’s over’

EU leaders have given Boris Johnson an ultimatum to come up with a new Brexit plan by the end of September or face up to a no deal.

The deadline, agreed at a meeting in Paris on Wednesday evening, comes as the bloc’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier told Mr Johnson to stop “pretending” to negotiate.

On Wednesday evening French president Emmanuel Macron – who has taken the hardest line against the UK – met with Antti Rinne, Finland’s prime minister and the current holder of the rotating EU Council presidency.

“If the UK wants to discuss alternatives to the existing Brexit agreement then these must be presented before the end of the month,” Mr Rinne told reporters after the meeting in which the deadline was agreed.

“We are both concerned about what is happening in Britain right now and the confusion that is going on from there to Europe.

“If no proposals are forthcoming, I believe that quite a few European leaders agree with the position. Then it’s over. Now is the time to come up with clear presentations and make them verifiable.”

The new deadline gives Mr Johnson 12 days to produce proposals to replace the Irish backstop, which he has said he wants to scrap and replace with something else. Although Mr Macron and Mr Rinne do not speak for the whole EU, the deadline has weight given Finland holds the rotating presidency – which is charged with coordinating the views of member states.

Officials in Brussels are concerned the prime minister is wasting their time and playing out talks for as long as possible without presenting proposals – possibly with an eye on an upcoming election.

The bloc’s chief negotiator Mr Barnier told the European parliament earlier in the day: “Almost three years after the UK referendum, I don’t think we should be spending time pretending to negotiate. I think we need to move forward with determination.”

EU officials told The Independent last week that they were losing patience – and that they feared they were being “led up the garden path” by the UK negotiators.

Reports suggest ideas brought to Brussels by UK negotiators have amounted to the same as the old agreement, with the section on the Irish backstop simply crossed out in the text. UK sources have also reportedly suggested full proposals are being deliberately held back to the last minute for timing reasons.

he EU side has been briefing that Mr Johnson experienced a “penny dropping moment” during his meeting with EU boss Jean-Claude Juncker earlier this week in Luxembourg.

According to the accounts of EU officials quoted in the Financial Times, Mr Johnson appeared not to understand that his proposals for Northern Ireland to stick to EU food and livestock regulations after Brexit would not resolve the ongoing impasse over customs arrangements at the border.

An official described Mr Johnson “slumping” in his chair at the lunch in Luxembourg, as his Brussels counterparts said that the plan for common “sanitary and phytosanitary” (SPS) rules on the island of Ireland would not do away with the need for customs checks on the vast majority of goods crossing the border.

According to the newspaper, one official said the PM turned to chief negotiator David Frost and Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay and said: “So you’re telling me the SPS plan doesn’t solve the customs problem?”

Speaking in the same European parliament debate on Wednesday, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said of a meeting with Mr Johnson in Luxembourg on Monday: “I said to Prime Minister Johnson that I have no emotional attachment to the backstop but I stand by the objectives it’s designed to achieve. I called on the PM to come forward with operational proposals in writing for practical steps which would allow us to achieve those objectives.”

Although it has not presented full proposals, the UK has come forward with one idea: a theoretical veto for Northern Ireland on any backstop replacement. This plan was, however, dismissed by parliament Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt on Wednesday as “a permanent instrument for blackmailing” the EU during negotiations.

MEPs in the European parliament on Wednesday afternoon approved a resolution that says they support an extension of Article 50 to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

The Independent understands that there was controversy on the parliament’s Brexit steering group over whether the resolution should include “preventing a no deal” as one of the possible justifications for an Article 50 extension. Some MEPs on the group – thought to be close to Emmanuel Macron – attempted to have the justification removed, leaving only a general election and second referendum as reasons for a further delay. A source said the thinking behind the attempt to remove the line was that it undermined the EU negotiating position.

The attempt failed – meaning the parliament supports an extension in virtually all circumstances to stop the UK crashing out. While the parliament’s position on an extension is purely symbolic, because the question of one is down to EU leaders on the council, the episode highlights the existence of divisions on the EU side over the question of further delays.

But despite the setback in the parliament, those looking for a tougher line on the UK appear to be making headway with member states. Addressing the issue of whether an extension would be granted, Finnish prime minister Mr Rinnie said: “Something must happen that extra time can be granted. If there is no genuine new solution in sight, there is no prerequisite for granting additional time.”

The new deadline set by the leaders complicates efforts to avoid a no-deal Brexit; parliament has legislated to force Mr Johnson to demand an extension of Article 50 if no deal has been signed by 19 October – the day after the next meeting of the European Council.

Mr Johnson spent the afternoon calling around EU leaders. A Downing Street spokesperson said: “This afternoon the prime minister spoke to European Commission President Juncker, European parliament President Sassoli, Cypriot President Anastasiades, and Latvian Prime Minister Karins.

“The prime minister and President Juncker discussed the positive and constructive conversation they had in Luxembourg on Monday, and their shared determination to reach a deal.

“The prime minister updated the other European leaders on the progress of the Brexit talks to date and reiterated that, when the UK leaves the EU on October 31, his preference is that we do so with a deal. He spoke about the work that was under way to find an alternative to the backstop that protects both the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and the integrity of the single market.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×