Take or leave. Boris Johnson ups the ante and goes all out on Brexit. The British prime minister presented the proposal for an agreement to the Conservative Party congress, which will be sent today to the European Union. Stand Brussels will say No, the United Kingdom will close the door to any negotiations and on 31 October it will leave the EU in the worst possible way: the No deal.
BORIS JOHNSON'S SPEECH
“What citizens want, what Leavers want, what Remainers want, what the whole world wants is to be able to resolve the issue calmly and sensitively and move forward. This is why we will leave the European Union on October 31st. Let's do this Brexit”, began the Prime Minister.
Johnson defined his offer as a "positive compromise for both parties", but has repeatedly reiterated that in the event of a negative response from the EU on October 31, there will be a No deal, "an outlet for which we are ready".
The Premier then accused the House of Commons and above all the leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, of having "refused to implement Brexit, refused to present any constructive proposal and refused the elections", of not listening to the voters who now want to look forward and that he presented "a law of surrender" for a postponement against the no deal option.
Going into the merits of the proposal, the British prime minister then explained that, although there are forms of customs control within it, "a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland will never be restored under any circumstances". At the same time, however, the United Kingdom will leave the EU to "regain control of its laws, its money, its borders".
THE UNITED KINGDOM PROPOSAL
"The final offer" - as defined by Johnson's entourage - that the United Kingdom will present to the European Union focuses on the most important issue, the one that has not allowed the two parties to reach an agreement so far on Brexit: the border between Ireland, an EU member state, and Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom.
Johnson's proposal aims to overcome the backstop agreed by Theresa May with the Union and repeatedly rejected by the British Parliament. “We will not accept checks at or near the Northern Ireland border under any circumstances. We will respect the peace process and the Good Friday agreement”, the Premier reiterated to his party colleagues.
The new draft provides for a transition period until the end of 2021. Once finished, Northern Ireland will leave both the EU and the customs union, like the rest of the Kingdom. Despite this, Belfast will remain in line with the single market for agricultural and industrial goods for another 4 years, as well as enjoying an exemption from the European customs code and European VAT in the same period.
By doing so, we will reach 2025. After which the matter will pass directly into the hands of the Parliament of Northern Ireland which will decide in a completely autonomous way what to do. There will be basically two options: continue to respect European laws (thus keeping the border open) or align with those of the United Kingdom.
The rest of the agreement proposed by Johnson follows the one already contracted by May, among which stand out the new rules to guarantee rights to EU citizens residing in the United Kingdom and the payment by London of the 39 billion pounds of "costs for Brexit” which the Premier had declared a few months ago that he did not want to pay.
THE REACTIONS
Johnson's idea has been welcomed by the DUP, the Irish unionist party which supports the Conservatives in government, but has already sparked a lot of controversy in Ireland. European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said the offer "certainly will not be acceptable to the Irish government, but neither to the EU".
The European Commission, after a phone call between Boris Johnson and Jean Claude Juncker, said it "welcomed Johnson's determination to continue talks ahead of the October European Council and to make progress towards an agreement". JUncker, he "acknowledged the positive progress, in particular on full regulatory alignment for all goods and on the control of goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain".
However, Brussels underlined that "there are still some problematic points that will need further work in the coming days, in particular with regard to the backstop".
IN THE EVENT OF A NO DEAL, JOHNSON RISKS INCRIMINATION
In his muscular speech, the British Premier left out a fundamental aspect. On 9 September, before the forced closure of the Parliament – afterwards declared illegitimate by the British Supreme Court – The British Parliament has passed a law obliging Johnson to ask for a postponement of Brexit beyond October 31 in the event that an agreement cannot be found. This means that, if the Prime Minister carries out the No deal, in the event of an unfavorable response from the EU, he could even risk prosecution.
(Last update: 9.58 on 3 October)
