‘Not a basis for agreement’: EU Parliament tears apart Britain’s Brexit proposals as BoJo scrambles to secure a deal

Britain’s plans for leaving the EU cannot even serve as a rough outline for a final agreement, a group of MEPs have stated. Boris Johnson has been rushing to strike a deal ahead of the October 31 deadline for leaving the bloc.

The European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group (BSG) met with the European Commission’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, to discuss the latest offers being floated by London.

The committee was apparently less than impressed, writing in a draft statement that the proposals “do not represent a basis for an agreement to which the Parliament could give consent by the end of the month.”

Guy Verhofstadt, the BSG’s chair and Brexit co-ordinator, revealed that the European Parliament had major issues with the UK prime minister’s proposals. Lawmakers believe it would harm the Republic of Ireland’s all-island economy, that it lacks detail, is not operational and puts the deal under custody of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

European Council President Donald Tusk has cast major doubts about the viability of the UK government's proposals. Tusk, who spoke to both the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Johnson on Thursday afternoon, warned that despite remaining open to discussions, they are “still unconvinced” by the UK’s Brexit plans.

Johnson submitted the potential deal to the EU on Wednesday, as part of a last-ditch effort to keep his promise to leave the union by the end of the month. It would see the contentious Irish backstop replaced with electronic and a “number of physical” customs checks at traders’ premises and other supply chain locations away from the border.

If ratified, it would mean that Northern Ireland would remain in the same 'regulatory zone' as the Republic of Ireland for goods traded across the north-south border.

However, it would also stay in the same customs territory as mainland UK - not the Republic of Ireland, which is an EU member state. Therefore, checks would be necessary on some trade, both between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and between Northern Ireland and mainland UK

Addressing Parliament on Thursday, Johnson pleaded with British lawmakers to back his proposal and avoid a “no deal” Brexit.

Johnson has come under fire for trying to temporarily shut down Parliament, a move which many viewed as an attempt to push through his Brexit plan without parliamentary interference. He previously vowed to take his country out of the bloc by October 31, “do or die,” but now claims that leaving without a deal would be “a failure of statecraft for which all parties would be held responsible."

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