Boris Johnson is a ‘piece of work’, ex-European Commission chief says

Jean-Claude Juncker says he likes Mr Johnson, but had better relations with former prime ministers

Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president at the time, and then-British prime minister Boris Johnson attend a press conference after agreeing on the Brexit deal. Reuters

Boris Johnson is “a piece of work” who could have achieved a better Brexit deal if he had been more precise in the negotiations, former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said.

Welcoming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s new agreement with the EU on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, Mr Juncker said it should pave the way for the “normalising” of relations between the UK and Brussels.

However, his comments may cause irritation in Downing Street after he suggested that it gave a greater role to European institutions than some in Britain had acknowledged.

“I think that the European Commission will have more authority than it seems — and as the European Court of Justice has been reconfirmed in its role as an arbiter when it comes to internal market questions concerning Northern Ireland,” he said in an interview with LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr.

“So, I think that although the deal is giving a response to the major British concerns, there is a part of European Union in the deal some in Britain are trying to hide.”

His statements came after Mr Johnson said he would find it “very difficult” to support the agreement finalised earlier this week in Windsor by Mr Sunak and the current commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

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  Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, hold a joint news conference on a post-Brexit deal, in Windsor. Bloomberg

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  Britain and the EU agreed to an overhaul of trade rules in Northern Ireland, a breakthrough aimed at resetting strained relations since Brexit. AFP

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  Britain's King Charles III receives Ms von der Leyen during an audience at Windsor Castle. PA

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  Anti-Brexit campaigners protest outside Downing Street in London. EPA

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  Mr Sunak and Ms von der Leyen hold talks in Windsor. Photo: No 10 Downing Street

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  Mr Sunak greets Ms von der Leyen at the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel, where the meeting was held. AFP

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  Mr Sunak and Ms von der Leyen make their way into the hotel. PA

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  The Prime Minister arrives in Windsor. PA

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  Government cars arrive at the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel. PA

Mr Juncker said a similar deal would have been available to Mr Johnson but “he was not able to acknowledge that some details of the arrangement had to be more precise”.

He said that while he liked Mr Johnson personally, he had had better relations with all the other British prime ministers he had worked with.

What is the Windsor Framework? — video

“I like him as a person. He’s funny, but he’s serious nevertheless,” he said.

“I had better relations with all the prime ministers of Britain I’ve known, starting with John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, even David Cameron, then mainly Theresa May, who was a lady.

“Boris Johnson was a piece of work, someone you cannot categorise, in normal definitions, but I liked him as a person.”