Angela Merkel has given Boris Johnson just 30 days to come up with a detailed plan to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
In a bid to call the British PM’s bluff, the German chancellor said it was now up to him to devise a workable alternative deal to keep open the Northern Irish border while respecting the EU’s single market.
During a joint press conference in Berlin, a clearly surprised Johnson said Merkel has “set a blistering timetable”, but said he was “more than happy” and “the onus is on us to produce these solutions”.
Johnson has repeatedly insisted he will lead the UK out of the EU on October 31, with or without a deal. Merkel’s deadline puts pressure on him to at least devise a deal a month before the Halloween exit date.
Johnson stressed that he wanted to remove the so-called ‘backstop’ in Theresa May’s Brexit deal, a complex guarantee that infuriates Tory MPs because it maintains indefinite UK links to EU rules.
Merkel made plain that she was now prepared for a no-deal exit, but said that it was up to Britain to find a way out of the apparently insoluble problem.
“The backstop has always been a fallback option until this issue is solved,” she said.
“If one is able to solve this conundrum, if one finds this solution, we said we will probably find it in the next two years to come, but we can also maybe find it in the next 30 days to come - and then we are one step further into the right direction.
“That presupposes we have absolute clarity on the future relationship of the UK and the EU.”
Merkel made plain that the EU was united and offered no suggestion that she would agree to ditch the backstop from the current deal, only that it could be made redundant with new agreements on future relations.
Underlining EU frustration that Johnson has so far been vague about his alternative plans, the German leader added that it was now up to him to draft some detailed proposals by September 21.
“Britain should tell us what sort of ideas it has because it is not the core task of a German chancellor to understand the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland so well. As you will know much better about all the ramifications of the Good Friday Agreement.
“We would like to hear first proposals put on the table by Britain. We have shown imagination and creativity in the past as the EU, I think here too we can find ways and means.
“We know that the UK has said that on October 31 you wish to leave. We take this very seriously and we start from the assumption that you will do this. So we will simply have to do it in fewer months than 12 months if there is to be an orderly Brexit.
“We are also prepared for a no-deal so, should this happen, this will or can happen, we are prepared for it.”
Johnson replied: “I’m very glad listening to you tonight Angela to hear that at least the conversations on that matter can now properly begin. You’ve set a blistering timetable there of 30 days. I’m more than happy with that.
“It’s in the final furlong generally when the horses change places and the winning deal appears.”
In a bid to stress his the UK’s shared interests, Johnson agreed with Merkel that it was too soon to allow Russia back into the G7 group of nations, despite hints from Washington for a return for Vladimir Putin to the global gathering. The pair then headed to a working dinner.
Earlier, Tory former minister Ed Vaizey suggested Johnson was “just going through the motions” with his Europe trip this week and was “hell-bent on getting no-deal”.
He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “We have to find a way to get Parliament to agree to a deal and therefore I would give Boris Johnson the credit of at least forcing on Parliament an existential crisis by being faced with a Prime Minister who is hell-bent on getting no-deal.”
On Tuesday, the EU seemed to close the door on any fresh talks, flatly rejecting Johnson’s request to remove the ‘backstop’ from any withdrawal deal.
EU Council president Donald Tusk said the UK government’s failure to propose “realistic alternatives” would cause real problems on the Irish issue, “even if they do not admit it”.
European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said: “The time for bluster and political blame games is fast running out.”
Ahead of his Berlin meeting, Johnson faced withering criticism from a senior EU commissioner who said he was an “unelected” prime minister whose no-deal Brexit plans are putting the Northern Irish peace process at risk.
In a scathing speech, EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan said that the new British premier would create a “foul atmosphere” with European Union partners if the UK quit the bloc without an agreement.
And he jibed the PM by paraphrasing Winston Churchill, saying: “In the event of a no deal Brexit, the UK government’s only Churchilian legacy will be –‘never have so few done so much damage to so many’.”