EU rebuffs Johnson bid to reopen Brexit deal as deadlock remains

Bloomberg

The European Union (EU) poured cold water on Boris Johnson’s attempt to renegotiate the Brexit deal, saying the so-called backstop to prevent a hard Irish border — which the British prime minister wants scrapped — was a vital part of the divorce agreement.
It means that with just over two months to go until Johnson has said the UK will leave the bloc “do or die,” the two sides are completely deadlocked — with Britain on course to leave on October 31 without the safety net of an agreement and a transition phase to smooth the process.
Still, the EU didn’t reject outright Johnson’s letter to senior European officials setting out his objections to the plan for the Irish border, which will become the UK’s new land frontier with the bloc. That indicates there may be room for the two sides to start talking, but only if Johnson can provide more details. The EU has consistently said the backstop isn’t up for renegotiation.
“We welcome the UK government’s engagement,” European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told reporters in Brussels. “The letter does not provide a legally operable solution
to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland, it does not set out what alternative arrangements could be, and in fact it recognises that there’s no guarantee that such arrangements will be in place by the end of the transitional period.”