BRUSSELS (AP) - The Latest on Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union (all times local):
1:20 p.m.
European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says that the 27 EU member are unanimous in their steadfastness that the Brexit withdrawal agreement will not be reopened whoever succeeds Theresa May as British prime minister.
The 27 EU leaders, without May, discussed the stalled Brexit process and rebuffed the idea that a new prime minister could start the Brexit negotiations with a clean slate.
Junker said: “We repeated unanimously that there will be no renegotiating of the withdrawal agreement.”
EU Council President Donald Tusk left the door open that a political agreement annexed to the legal withdrawal deal could be subject for talks.
Britain is set to leave the bloc on Oct. 31.
Some leaders say a new Brexit extension should only be granted to hold general elections or a new Brexit referendum.
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10:40 a.m.
The governor of the Bank of England has dismissed claims by Conservative leadership campaign front-runner Boris Johnson that the U.K. could retain its trade arrangements in the event of a no-deal Brexit while another deal with the bloc is negotiated.
Johnson has said the U.K. could get a “standstill” under a provision of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in the event of a no-deal Brexit. But Carney told the BBC on Friday that GATT “applies if you have an agreement, not if you have decided not to have an agreement or have been unable to come to an agreement.”
Carney says the U.K. would automatically be hit by tariffs. He says that’s because the Europeans would have to apply the same rules to Britain as every other country outside the tariff-less EU.
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10:30 a.m.
European Union leaders are underlining that their divorce agreement with Britain cannot be renegotiated regardless of who becomes the next prime minister there.
At a summit of EU leaders Friday, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said the current Brexit agreement “is the best possible deal.”
With Boris Johnson favorite to become next prime minister, Bettel says it makes no difference who takes office.
He says “it’s not possible (that) because you change the leader in the U.K. that we need to postpone decisions.”
EU leaders are due later Friday to briefly discuss political developments in Britain, which is set to leave the bloc on Oct. 31.
Some leaders say a new Brexit extension should only be granted to hold fresh elections or a new Brexit referendum.
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