A Brexit deal will not be possible before this week’s crunch Brussels summit, EU leaders have reportedly told Boris Johnson .

In a crushing blow for the Prime Minister, diplomats have indicated the EU want more concessions from the UK – and said a full agreement is unlikely to be ready this week.

If the reports are correct, it makes it next to impossible for the UK to leave the EU with a deal before October 31.

It comes at the start of a frantic week which will define both the manner of the UK’s departure from the EU and Boris Johnson’s Premiership.

Johnson says he wants EU leaders to sign off his Brexit blueprint on Thursday and Friday this week, so he can bring it back home for MPs to vote on it on Saturday.

But current EU president Finland said more time was needed and that negotiations could continue even after the EU summit.

"I think there is no time in a practical or legal way to find an agreement before the EU Council meeting," Prime Minister Antti Rinne said after talks with the next chair of EU summits, Charles Michel.

"We need more time and we need to have negotiations after the (European) Council meeting."

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said a deal was possible with more work.

But EU diplomats were pessimistic about the chances of Johnson's hybrid customs proposal for the Irish border issue.

"We are not very optimistic," a senior EU diplomat told Reuters.

Source: Read Full Article