EU braces for no-deal Brexit or another delay under Boris Johnson

The European Union is bracing for either a no-deal Brexit or another delay if Boris Johnson becomes Britain’s prime minister next week with a pledge to renegotiate a deal the bloc says it will not reopen.

The three-year Brexit crisis could be about to deepen as Johnson’s pledge to leave the EU “do or die” — with or without a deal — on Oct. 31 sets Britain on a collision course with the bloc’s 27 other leaders and his own parliament.

Such is the concern about the likely impact on the $18.7 trillion EU economy that European capitals are ramping up pressure on Ireland to accelerate preparations for a no-deal exit that could roil financial markets and dislocate trade.

Johnson and his rival for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party Jeremy Hunt both said on Monday they were not willing to accept the so-called Irish backstop element of Theresa May’s Brexit deal, even if a time limit was set and that makes the chances of a European compromise all but impossible before the Brexit deadline.

Via Reuters