No-deal Brexit would be UK’s fault, says EU's Juncker

BERLIN

European Commission’s president warned on Friday that the blame for a no-deal Brexit would entirely be on the U.K.

“We are working hard to reach a deal. Because the U.K.’s exit from the EU without an agreement would be a disaster for the United Kingdom and for the European continent,” Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview with German daily the Augsburger Allgemeine.

“If that would not be achieved in the end, the responsibility would lie entirely on the British side,” he stressed.

Juncker also warned that talks on the future trade relationship would be greatly complicated in the case of a no-deal Brexit, and negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and the U.K. would likely to continue several years.

“We would like to and we must conclude a free trade agreement. But that won't happen all of a sudden as some in Great Britain imagination. Trade agreements concluded during my term of office makes this clear,” he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly stated that he would take the U.K. out of the EU by Oct. 31 and that although he is confident in negotiating a deal with Brussels, he was also making preparations for a no-deal Brexit.