The European Commission is still waiting for "concrete" proposals from the British government, proposals that have still not arrived, and once again called itself "open" on Monday 2 September to work on "any concrete proposal" compatible with the withdrawal agreement.
The Commission confirmed the statements made on Sunday 1 September in an article in the Sunday Telegraph signed by the EU negotiator on the exit of the United Kingdom, Michel Barnier. He stressed that the EU was ready to work on the alternative arrangements to the safety net for Ireland called for by the British government, but "once the withdrawal agreement has been ratified".
For the EU negotiator, if the Twenty-Seven are ready to get to work as soon as possible during the transition period (post-ratification), these alternative arrangements should have the same objective as the safety net, this backstop already representing the "maximum flexibility" that the EU can offer London.
In this forum, Michel Barnier takes the opportunity to reject London's proposal to remove this safety net from the withdrawal agreement and says he is "not optimistic" about the chances of an agreement with the British government by 31 October. Discussions are scheduled to continue this week in Brussels with British negotiator David Frost.
Towards early elections?
In London, MEPs are engaged in an attempt to impose to avoid the no-deal through a transparent legislative initiative (notably by Conservatives and Labour), scheduled for 3 September. This week is the last week they have left before Parliament is prorogued by Boris Johnson. The British Prime Minister would have reacted on 2 September on this subject and would consider very early elections in the country before 31 October, if he were to be defeated by these opponents to an outing without agreement, according to the BBC. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)