Mrs. May made the trip to make what was widely regarded as an unrealistic demand to reopen the withdrawal agreement that she negotiated with Brussels, and which lays out a managed exit on March 29. She needs help from the bloc because the agreement has been rejected overwhelmingly by the British Parliament.

The sticking point in the agreement, as it has been for the better part of two years of negotiations, was the immensely unpopular “backstop” — an arrangement to guarantee that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland between Britain and the European Union. It is anathema to pro-Brexit forces because it would keep Britain in the European Union’s customs union indefinitely, preventing it from making trade deals with other countries.

Yet, as he and other European leaders have told her many times before, Mr. Juncker told Mrs. May that the 585-page withdrawal agreement could not be reopened and the backstop could neither be eliminated nor made time-limited.

But according to a joint statement after their talks, Mrs. May and Mr. Juncker agreed that both sides would keep talking about how to reassure the British Parliament about the backstop and that they would meet again by the end of this month.

Mr. Juncker said he was willing to add wording to the nonbinding political declaration negotiated alongside the withdrawal agreement that lays out the principles of a future relationship between Britain and the European Union.

According to the statement, the wording would be intended “to be more ambitious in terms of content and speed when it comes to the future relationship between the European Union and the U.K.” [...]

Full article on New York Times

Joint statement on behalf of President Juncker and Prime Minister May