Luxembourg PM: UK proposed nothing new on Brexit

(16 Sep 2019) Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said no concrete proposals had been presented by Britain on Brexit, after meeting with his visiting counterpart Boris Johnson on Monday. "For me I just have one Withdrawal Agreement on the table and it's the one from last year," Bettel said, speaking alongside an empty lectern that had been set-up for Johnson. He added: "There are no changes. There are no concrete proposals for the moment on the table. And I won't give an agreement to ideas. We need written proposals and the time is ticking." Bettel urged Johnson to "stop speaking and act," saying UK and European citizens needed clarity on their future. "Your people, our people count on you. But the clock is ticking, use your time wisely," he cautioned. Bettel also said an extension to the Brexit deadline hinged on specific proposals, stressing "we will not grant another extensions just for the sake of granting another extension." Johnson, meanwhile, claimed that he didn't speak alongside the Luxembourg Prime Minister because there was too much noise from protesters. Earlier Johnson met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, agreeing to ramp up talks on securing an elusive Brexit deal, but the two sides gave starkly different assessments of how far apart they are. The two men held their first face-to-face talks over a two-hour lunch amid claims from the U.K. - though not from the EU - that an agreement is in sight. Johnson's Downing St. office said "the leaders agreed that the discussions needed to intensify and that meetings would soon take place on a daily basis," with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and U.K. Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay getting involved in the talks. Downing St. called Monday's meeting "constructive." The European Commission, however, said Britain had yet to offer any "legally operational" solutions to the problem of keeping goods and people flowing freely across the Irish border, the main roadblock to a deal. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...