DEAL ME IN
‘Brexit will happen’ and UK ‘can get a deal’, says EU boss Jean-Claude Juncker after Boris Johnson finally sends his plan
JEAN-CLAUDE Juncker said tonight "We can have a deal" and "Brexit will happen" in a major boost for Boris Johnson.
The EU boss warned a no-deal Brexit would have "catastrophic consequences" and said he was doing "everything to get a deal".
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Speaking to , he said he was prepared to get rid of the so-called backstop from a withdrawal agreement as long as "the objectives are met - all of them".
The EU Commission president told Sky's Sophy Ridge he'd been sent documents by the British PM outlining draft ideas for a new Brexit deal.
Mr Johnson sent the documents after he was accused by critics of "pretending to negotiate" - which he denies, insisting he's working flat out to clinch a deal.
'BASIS OF A DEAL'
Mr Juncker said the papers arrived late on Wednesday night and is yet to read them.
He had spoken to Mr Johnson on the phone "without knowing the content of the British proposals", he said.
The main sticking point over a Brexit deal is the controversial Irish border backstop, which would require Britain to retain some EU trade rules.
Juncker, 64, said a deal would revolve around the idea that Northern Ireland would follow EU rules on food and agriculture, with other checks being done away from the border.
I don't have an erotic relationship to the backstop. If the results are there, I don't care about it.
Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Commission President
"It is the basis of a deal. It is the starting and the arrival point," he said. ";The internal market has to be preserved in its entirety."
Yesterday Juncker warned the risk of a No Deal remains "very real", but said he's prepared to work "day in day out, morning until night" to strike a deal.
Striking a positive note, he said talks with the Prime Minister, 55, had been "friendly, constructive and, in part, positive".
Britain's proposals revolve around what's been dubbed "alternative arrangements", aimed to give separate guarantees to satisfy politicians in Brussels and London and avoid the need for a hard border.
DEADLINE LOOMS
Johnson appears to have responded directly to demands by French President Emmanuel Macron, who this week gave him a 12-day deadline to submit written proposals for Brexit.
And the approach appears to have struck a positive chord with Juncker, who is keen to deliver Brexit by the time he steps down from his role on October 31.
Mr Juncker said he did not have an "emotional relationship" with the backstop and would be happy as long as the "results" were in place.
He told Sky: "I was asking the Prime Minister the other day to make concrete proposals as far as so-called alternative arrangements are concerned, allowing us and Britain to achieve the main objectives of the backstop.
"I don't have an erotic relationship to the backstop. If the results are there, I don't care about it."
He added that "if the objectives are met - all of them - then we don't need the backstop. It was a guarantee, not an aim by itself."
LATEST BREXIT NEWS
And he expressed hope that Britain's withdrawal will take place by the time he leaves office , insisting: "Brexit will happen."
Juncker's words come amid ongoing furore over the suspension of Parliament.
MPs may have to return to court next week if Mr Johnson is defeated at the Supreme Court.
The 11 justices have retired to decide on whether the PM’s move to shut down – or prorogue - Parliament for five weeks was unlawful, with a verdict due early next week.
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Jean-Claude Juncker vows to work 'day and night' for Brexit deal but warns there has been 'no progress'
PM Boris Johnson says there is a 'good chance of a deal' after talks with Jean-Claude Juncker but the 'backstop has to go'
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