Boris Johnson Receives Harsh Blow of EU on  Brexit

Member states of the European Union (EU) decline to follow Jean-Claude Juncker, who ‘ruled out’ further delay until beating an accord with the United Kingdom (UK).

EU leaders have left open the option of extending Brexit beyond 31 October if the new deal is voted down by the Commons, in a blow to Boris Johnson’s strategy.

The prime minister had been seeking to pitch Saturday’s vote in the Commons as a choice between deal or no deal after coming to an agreement with the EU.

Johnson was helped by comments from Jean-Claude Juncker casting doubt on the possibility of a further Brexit delay, but the heads of state and government did not follow the European commission president’s lead.

A summit communique issued after two hours of discussion tasked the commission and European parliament to take “the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on November 1”.

But a senior EU official said that the leaders would follow events on Saturday, and reflect on the next steps if they were in a “different situation”.

A second diplomatic source said they had chosen not to interfere in a “sensitive domestic debate … but they leave the door open to the possibility of an extension, to be discussed at a later stage – if required”.

https://see.news/another-setback-for-uks-johnson-extra-ambiguity-over-brexit/

Donald Tusk, the president of the European council who will provide guidance on the options in the event of another rejection of a deal, said the issue of an extension was for a later date.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/17/boris-johnson-and-eu-reach-brexit-deal-without-dup-backing

“Our intention is to work towards ratification. We support a deal and this was a clear decision of the 27 member states. And we prepared for this ratification, politically logistically, technically”, Tusk said. “Now the ball is in the court of the UK. I have no idea what will be the result of the debate in the House of Commons on Saturday. It isn’t for me to comment on political developments in the UK. But if there is a request for an extension, I will consult member states to see how they react.”

'It has to be now': Jean-Claude Juncker claims EU won't further delay Brexit - video

Johnson is facing an uphill task to build a majority after the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist party rejected the revised deal, describing it as driving “a coach and horses through the professed sanctity of the Belfast agreement”.