Georges Gobet—AFP
Senior official derides assumption that a new proposal could be made, negotiated, endorsed and ratified within a few days
A senior European source poured cold water on Wednesday on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hopes of negotiating a new Brexit agreement with E.U. leaders next month before Britain leaves the bloc.
Amid political chaos in London, Johnson has suggested that he could seek a new or revised withdrawal agreement when he attends the Oct. 17 and 18 European Council leaders’ summit in Brussels. But the E.U. official noted that the leaders had delegated the task of negotiating with London to the European Commission, which has appointed a Brexit task force under senior official Michel Barnier.
“Leaders have never negotiated directly with the U.K. PM on Brexit. In line with the treaty, U.K. is not even present when the EU27 Leaders discuss Brexit,” the official told AFP after a meeting of E.U. ambassadors. “The assumption that in a space of a few days a proposal could be made, negotiated, endorsed by the summit and ratified by EP [European Parliament] and U.K. Parliament by end-October seems like a rather heroic assumption, to say the least,” he said.