With less than seven weeks remaining until Britain is due to leave the European Union, Johnson has yet to strike a deal with Brussels to manage the unprecedented separation between the world’s fifth largest economy and its biggest trading partner.

Johnson has pledged to leave the EU with or without a deal on Oct. 31, even though British lawmakers have passed a law which would force him to request a delay beyond that date if he is unable to reach a deal with the EU, Reuters reported.

The British prime minister travels to Luxembourg on Monday to meet outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and has set his sights on winning a revised deal at an EU leaders’ summit on Oct. 17-18.

“If we can make enough progress in the next few days, I intend to go to that crucial summit on Oct. 17, and finalize an agreement that will protect the interests of business and citizens on both sides of the (English) Channel, and on both sides of the border in Ireland,” Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

“I believe passionately that we can do it, and I believe that such an agreement is in the interests not just of the UK but also of our European friends.”

Johnson and his ministers have in recent days talked up progress in negotiations with Brussels, but the EU side have consistently sounded less optimistic, putting the emphasis on Britain to come up with new ideas.

The future of the land border between EU member Ireland and British province Northern Ireland is the central issue of disagreement both between Johnson and the EU, and between Johnson and British members of parliament – who three times rejected a deal negotiated by his predecessor Theresa May.

Since coming to power in July off the back of May’s resignation, Johnson has adopted a tougher negotiating stance, vowing that Britain will leave without a deal if it has to and stepping up preparations to mitigate possible food, fuel and medicine shortages attached to that outcome.

“It is not and never has been the outcome that I want, but our preparations are by now very extensive,” Johnson wrote. “Yes, there may be difficulties ahead, but we will overcome them all.”

Nevertheless, he has yet to publicly announce new proposals on how to solve the Northern Irish border issue, and has had his options severely limited by parliament, which passed a law aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit.

In his Telegraph article, Johnson criticized parliament for hampering his negotiations by approving the law.

“Its effect is completely contrary to the UK’s interests – because it has at least given the impression to our partners that the UK is no longer either fully able or determined to leave on Oct 31,” he said.

“In so far as that impression has been given, it is wrong.”

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 Now, with the British Parliament postponing the vote on the Brexit, and the possibility of the parliament’s negative vote to the final plan presented by Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, Europe, and London are both stuck in a political dead end. Despite these conflicts, it’s not really difficult to formulate the existing crisis between Europe and Britain!

The fact is that Theresa May has claimed that there is no better plan than the deal which was previously made between Britain and Europe. And “Exiting the EU with no deal” is the worst option for London. This is while some British MPs from both Conservative and Labor Parties have called for a negative vote on the deal achieved between London and the EU.

They’re now focusing on another option called “holding a second Referendum” on Brexit, which May apparently claims to be impossible! However, some analysts of the Europe and Britain affairs argue that through their apparent disagreement, the British government and parliament are trying to direct the British citizens towards participating in another referendum in this regard.

Meanwhile, both Labor and Conservative parties (in spite of their differences) are in fact completing the same puzzle.

On the other side, the European officials are also helping the British authorities to put the pieces of this puzzle together. On the one hand, they emphasize that Brexit, without the deal made between London and Brussels, is the worst possible option, and on the other hand, they insist that it is impossible to hold any other negotiations between Britain and the European Union on this issue.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker accordingly said: “The deal we achieved is the best possible. It’s the only deal possible. There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation.
“But of course there is room enough to give further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the withdrawal agreement” he added.

In other words, the European authorities are emphasizing the possibility of a better agreement (for the UK), which will provide a ground for holding a referendum on the Brexit. As noted, Angela Merkel plays an essential role in this equation. As Reuters has recently reported, Merkel has explicitly emphasized that there will be no other talks between European and British officials on Brexit, but efforts were being made to give Britain reassurances.

Of course, Merkel did not mention these efforts, but the British prime minister has told Merkel that it was in nobody’s interest for Britain to leave with no accord and that it will have its own economic and political consequences.

In any case, Theresa May tries to show the deal made between Brussels and London over the Brexit as a possible option, but the joint plan of the British government Parliament and the European authorities is such that it complicates this equation.
As it turned out, Theresa May has so far opposed the referendum.

But there is no guarantee that this opposition will persist forever. Besides the German Chancellor, Donald Tusk, the chairman of the European Council has also stated that European officials will never accept a resumption of negotiations on the Brexit and the UK withdrawal from the European Union.

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