Boris Johnson will hold his first face-to-face talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker over a working lunch of snails, salmon and cheese in Luxembourg.

While a breakthrough is unlikely, the British prime minister says he’s pushing hard for a deal in the next month. But he will warn Juncker he will reject any further delay to Brexit beyond the end of October.

If no agreement is reached at the next summit of EU leaders on Oct 17-18, Johnson is set to pursue a course of leaving the bloc without one, in defiance of a new law designed to force him to seek an extension to the deadline. Johnson’s team expect the legal battle will go to court.

Key Developments:

  • Johnson to meet Juncker for lunch, and will hold press conference with Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel later
  • Juncker says Johnson needs to present detailed plans as time is running out
  • U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says EU must show flexibility to get a deal

Brexit Deal Is ‘Imperative’: U.K. Minister (10:15 a.m.)

Getting a Brexit deal is an “absolute imperative” for the British government, City Minister John Glen said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, though he added the administration is also focused on leaving the European Union on Oct. 31 and has done an “enormous amount” of no-deal planning.

“We’ve got to get a clear resolution so that businesses can plan,” Glen said.

Finland: No-Deal Brexit Is ‘Going to Happen’ (9:40 a.m.)

In an interview with CNBC, Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the European Union must accept that a no-deal Brexit is “going to happen.”

Rinne said he told his British counterpart Boris Johnson “some weeks ago” that the only Brexit deal available is the one negotiated with his predecessor, Theresa May, and there is little appetite in the EU for an extension beyond Oct. 31 “if there is no possibility to see a new solution.”

“I hope if he’s going to ask for more time it means that he has something to say,” Rinne said of Johnson.

Lib Dems: We Can Stop Brexit (8:25 a.m.)

Jo Swinson, leader of the U.K.’s pro-EU Liberal Democrats, said she believed it’s still possible to stop Brexit and will work to achieve this.

She declined to say whether her party would campaign to rejoin the European Union if an election takes place after the U.K. has left the bloc.

The Lib Dems, who are holding their annual conference, are a small but growing opposition party. They have benefited from MPs defecting to join them as Brexit splits the two larger parties, most recently with the arrival of former Tory leadership candidate Sam Gyimah.

EU Must Show Flexibility, Raab Says (7:40 a.m.)

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that Johnson’s message to the European Union on Monday will be: “We will go for the deal, but we are also going to be very clear with our EU partners that we are leaving at the end of October.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Raab suggested Johnson won’t be taking detailed proposals to change the issues around the Irish border that Britain objects to. “There’ll be a tendency to try and rubbish things we put forward in order to try and exact further demands,” he said. “We’re not going to get involved with that.”

He said the U.K. didn’t want to “play into the posturing that accompany any negotiations.” Raab ruled out asking for any more extensions to the proposed transition period, currently scheduled to finish at the end of 2020. He said Britain wanted “finality.”

Asked if the government would obey the law passed by Parliament this month to force Johnson to seek an extension to negotiations if he doesn’t have a deal, Raab said there was no question of disobeying the law, but that the law itself was “deeply flawed.”

--With assistance from Nick Rigillo and David Goodman.