BRUSSELS, Oct 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – European Union leaders endorsed a hard-
fought Brexit deal with Britain on Thursday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson
faces an uphill battle getting it through the British parliament.
“It looks like we are very close to the final stretch,” EU Council
President Donald Tusk told reporters after the other 27 leaders approved the
accord.
But despite optimism from Johnson, British opposition parties and some of
the prime minister’s own allies in the House of Commons were quick to warn
they would not support it when it goes to a vote in a special sitting on
Saturday.
If the deal is defeated, the prime minister is legally obliged to ask EU
leaders to postpone Brexit for a third time — breaking his vow to lead
Britain out on October 31.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned such a rejection
would create an “extremely complicated situation”, while Tusk said that if it
happened he would consult member states on how to respond.
Johnson insisted he was “very confident” MPs would back the deal, but the
immediate response from the opposition and even partners in a supporting
party were hostile.
Juncker sought to focus MPs’ minds, saying that Brussels can see no need
for another delay to the painful divorce.
“We have a deal, and this deal means there is no need for any kind of
prolongation,” he told reporters — although the decision will be for EU
leaders.
Asked whether they had a message for the 48 percent of British voters who
backed staying in the EU in the June 2016 Brexit referendum, Juncker simply
said: “I would like to say to the 48 that they were right.”
And Tusk said: “I regret that it was 48 and not 52.”
But despite their misgivings, both men argued that the deal would protect
the rights of remaining EU citizens and the integrity of the bloc’s single
market.
– ‘Get Brexit done’ –
Johnson, a leader of the “leave” campaign in 2016 who has vowed to walk
away from the EU at the end of this month come what may, said he had secured
a “great new deal that takes back control”.
Looking worn and tired after days of intense politicking, Johnson urged MPs
“to come together to get Brexit done, to get this excellent deal over the
line and to deliver Brexit without any more delay.”
The compromise reached on Thursday is a personal victory for Johnson, who
was told repeatedly by EU leaders that they were not open to reworking a deal
initially inked last year.
But there were immediate signs the Commons — which rejected the previous
divorce text three times — might again refuse to play ball.
Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which props up
Johnson’s Conservatives, said it was “unable to support these proposals”.
The main opposition Labour, Scottish National and Liberal Democrat parties
also spoke out against it.
Their response sent the pound sinking again after it had earlier risen to
five-month peaks on news of the deal.
– ‘No Irish border’ –
The draft agreement was forged after weeks of tense negotiations focused on
altering arrangements to keep open the border between British Northern
Ireland and EU member Ireland.
All sides agree they do not want infrastructure on the frontier, to avoid
exacerbating tensions over Britain’s control of Northern Ireland that caused
decades of deadly violence up until the 1990s.
The new plan keeps the United Kingdom as a single customs territory,
allowing it to strike international trade deals, but requiring London to levy
EU tariffs on certain goods passing through Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland would also follow the EU’s rules on agricultural, food and
industrial goods.
“There will be no border on the island of Ireland and the (EU’s) single
market will be protected,” Juncker said.
But it would involve some customs and tax checks between Northern Ireland
and mainland Britain, and the DUP warned the plans “undermine the integrity
of the union”.
Northern Ireland’s regional assembly will be given a vote every four years
on whether to maintain the arrangements, but the DUP warned that did not go
far enough.
Johnson has assured his European counterparts that he can get the deal
through parliament, and French President Emmanuel Macron said he was
“reasonably confident” the deal could be ratified.
A European official who was present when Johnson briefed the leaders said
that around six of them asked questions, and all of them were about his
domestic political situation.
But Johnson has no majority among MPs, and his threat to leave the EU with
or without a deal this month has exacerbated existing divisions in
parliament.