A Brexit breakthrough is “in God’s hands”, Jean-Claude Juncker has said – after Brussels once again rebuffed UK pleas to renegotiate the deal struck by Theresa May last year.
In an interview with a German newspaper the EU Commission president said an extension of Article 50 was an option to avoid a no-deal.
“When it comes to Brexit, it is like being before the courts or on the high seas; we are in God’s hands,” he told Stuttgart Zeitung.
“And we can never quite be sure when God will take the matter in hand.”
Theresa May is to come to Brussels on Wednesday evening to meet with Mr Juncker, but her ministers were already sent home empty handed at the start of the week.
On Monday night Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox travelled to Brussels to again urge the EU to renegotiate the controversial Irish backstop.
The UK government has been arguing that the backstop would be unlawful under the EU’s own treaties – an approach that has yet to be met with any success.
A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said afterwards that the meeting with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was “productive” but that “while the Commission engaged seriously with these proposals it expressed concerns about their viability to resolve the backstop”.
The morning after on Tuesday a European Commission spokesperson reiterated that the EU would not re-open the withdrawal agreement, would not accept a time-limit to the backstop, or give the UK a unilateral exit clause – as it has said all along.
“The EU27 will not reopen the withdrawal agreement, we cannot accept a time-limit to the backstop or a unilateral exit clause, and further talks will be held this week to see whether aw ay through can be found that would gain the broadest possible support in the UK parliament and respect the guidelines agreed by the European Council,” the Commission spokesperson said.
Mr Barclay and Mr Cox are expected to return to Brussels alongside Ms May on Wednesday. The pair are expected to be accompanied by lawyers.
The EU has said it would reopen talks about the future relationship with the UK – but that the withdrawal agreement is not up for discussion. Brussels chiefs including Donald Tusk, Sabine Weyand, and Guy Verhofstadt have said the government should look at cross-party cooperation with Labour to get the deal through parliament.
Labour says it would support the government if it committed to a customs union, close alignment with the single market, and shared obligations and institutions with the EU – effectively a soft Brexit.
