with canada, it will take time. can i now look at a few other claims being made. the labour party, for example says, if it wins the general election it will renegotiate once again so a third brexit deal. i will no longer be in office when this happens and so it will be up to the next commission to decide if there is room for manoeuvre for a new deal or a new treaty. honestly speaking, i don't think that this is a realistic approach. would you like there to be another referendum and the uk to give brexit another thought? the question of yes or no whether there should be another referendum is a british issue and i don't think there will be a second referendum. the brexit party says that the withdrawal agreement is not brexit, they say it's just not

brexit only brexit in name only. is that a fair thing to say about boris johnson's deal with your commission? no, it is brexit. i'm not a supporter of mr farage. although i have seen a different tv shows that he likes me, that was a surprise. you made a bet at the time of the referendum with the uk commissioner and you pointed out that you thought that remained would lose the referendum and that became apparent. going first to the 31st of january, this latest brexit extension, would you bet the pound that the uk will be out by the 31st of january, i told all the others... i have a poundin i told all the others... i have a pound in my pocket, i don't want to have a second pound. you think it

will happen on the 31st ofjanuary? i do think this will happen but this is a too long story, what about this idea to divide and rule, the uk bypassing the commission which was set to negotiate on behalf of the member state, going to berlin, going to paris, do you think that the uk underestimated or misunderstood how the european union works, particularly with regards to ireland in this case? the british political society have never liked the commission. they never liked the place they had inside the eu. they gave the impression that they were there because of economic interest and what was political was of no interest to them. they went to paris, they went to berlin, they went almost everywhere, even to luxembourg and they didn't

understand that the 27 other member states had the bottom line. the commission was negotiating with michel barnier and others and this group of 27. it was not a small thing to be done but it was done. the commission played its role and the british didn't like that role. what happens when it comes now to trade talks because again, there are those who say once the withdrawal agreement is passed, that is the end of brexit but then phase two starts. again, there is talk of the possibility that the uk might try to, if it negotiations are going on a long time, for the commission to say, germany, why don't the uk and berlin do a deal on cars for example. would that work? the commission is in charge of trade policy. to some extent the commission can't really move with member states but this future trade agreement

and i'm in favour of having a free trade agreement with britain and it has to be negotiated, not with the member states but with the commission. definitely the negotiations were a flawed process and the brexit process has gone on for a very long time, longer than anyone expected or wanted in fact. but surely, the eu also had a role to play in that. back to the famous backstop, why is it that the eu insisted on making that irish backstop, that guarantee to keep the irish border open, front and centre of the withdrawal agreement negotiations when this was obviously a difficult issue for the government which repeated time and time again it would respect the good friday agreement, let's move on to future negotiations. this could have been finished a long time ago. i don't think so. we were trying to be as loyal as possible towards our irish friends. they insisted on the backstop and we were in charge

this forward in the negotiations. we found a system leading to the same results as the initially planned backstop. this is why this is a good deal. borisjohnson says that he managed to achieve what nobody else did because he said he wanted to bin the backstop and you let him. he said the eu blinked. we have found elements of agreement leading to exactly the same result as the initially planned backstop. i am not answering if borisjohnson is right or you are right but we have a deal and a treaty. so northern ireland is effectively in the customs union even though legally it isn't? that is your description and it is not wrong. is it since the referendum vote and up until this point you have dealt with three uk prime ministers, david cameron, to may

and now boris johnson. were they easy to work with on a difficult subject? could you come up with an adjective for each one of them and how you worked with them? i have known in my long career different british prime ministers. i was starting with tony blair in 97 and thenjohn major and then david cameron, theresa may and borisjohnson, all of them they are to some extent, although nobody believes that, good friends because all of them, mainly theresa may and boris johnson, they were giving me the impression that they were trying to do the best for their country. i did very often disagree with what they've thought would be in the national interest of britain but it was their responsibility and not mine. i had good relations with all of them. do you think it is possible, because borisjohnson described the eu as our european friends and partners...

i am not surprised that he is always referred to his european partners and friends. that is a good wording, not to be forgotten for the future. you describe the uk as a good friend and he said in luxembourg that europe, because of the second world war, owes a lot to the uk but angela merkel pointed out that after brexit the uk will be a competitor on the eu's doorstep. how will it be possible to keep these good relations which are described in words with facts on the ground if you like? with all the third countries, britain will be a third country, they are competitors so britain is not in an exceptional situation was that we have to compete with britain, and we will have to compete

with them outside the market. moving from the commission itself to the issues that exist, that face europe in the next five years. traditionally, the eu has often looked to the franco german motor, the relationship between germany and france to show leadership on the way forward. now, you have weak leadership in germany with angela merkel with one foot out the door, emmanuel macron is quite a divisive figure inside the eu, not everyone shares his vision for the eu, will you leave your position in the eu concerned about the direction it is going? the comission is not in charge of germany and france. i'm moving away from the commission... i never thought for so many years that france and germany, their harmony, it never was in fact, is essentialfor the european union but the european union is not only germany and france alone, they can do nothing. they need smaller hands to be helpful and sometimes they are following what others

are saying, giving the impression that they were inventing the road and the avenue. when it comes to president trump, you say you have a few tips up your sleeve for those who need to deal with the president who is not predictable, shall we say. when you went to go and visit him, he was threatening all sorts of sanctions against the european union and you managed to prevent them for a while at least. what was the trick? if you have a trick, if you have a strategy, don't reveal it because at the very moment you are revealing it you are losing it. but, he's unpredictable, he and others are too. i would say he is flexible and he is able to listen. he doesn't like the european union really as a strong concept idea. he is very british. moving on to your commission, you described your commission as the last chance commission. is federalism, the idea of federalism, alive and well in the eu?

many pointed the finger at you as a federalist. i am not ready for that, european people aren't ready for that and we are not a second kind of united states of america. we are ourselves. people like their nations. i'm reading british papers as you are doing. i am described like an archaic federalist. i am not a federalist. they are lying in the british press when they are describing me as a stubborn, blind federalist, i am not. you have been in this job for a long time, what emotions will you have? we have regrets ? what emotions will you have? we have regrets? i was supposed to leave a few days ago and i will never leave

the european landscape. i will not intervene day after day. i'm not sad. any regrets? i'm not regretting. if you have to work 16 oi’ regretting. if you have to work 16 or 17 hours per day... would you be tempted to stay in your office until brexit is done or at least this phase of brexit? the voting through of the withdrawal agreement. no, no, no. i've had brexit enough in my life. presidentjuncker, thank you very much for your time. more wet weather is moving into the uk from the west so today, at least we took advantage of a rare dry day across the bulk of the uk. a good amount of sunshine and blue sky but thatis amount of sunshine and blue sky but that is about to change as this weather front moves in,

that is about to change as this weatherfront moves in, sweeping eastwards overnight. not just weatherfront moves in, sweeping eastwards overnight. notjust rain but snow as well to the higher parts of the pennines and more especially in north of the central belt. some hills will the accumulating snow into the morning and affecting some higher rates into the morning as well so don't be surprised by that. at least this wet weather is moving on through and not hanging around too long in one particular place. as it moves through there will be seen quite gusty winds and temperatures heading upa quite gusty winds and temperatures heading up a bit has the night goes on after a chilly start. into tomorrow, the persistent rain clearing away and then it is a case of showers tomorrow, by three blustery showers on this north—westerly wind. some wintry, may be some hail. some do move east across the uk but relatively few the further south and east you are. it will be a cold day feeling day, the wind might be stronger and just a few in double figures down south. rain totals will be mounting again into the peak district which may

bring further concerns with flooding so bring further concerns with flooding so keep an eye on that. a chilly night going into tuesday and then on tuesday, dominated by low pressure, we will see another band of low pressure moving its way southwards and some sunshine to the south of it. further showers coming from behind and that cold wind keeps on coming in and for the most part, temperatures are in single figures on tuesday. looking beyond that, we have a brief break between weather systems early wednesday with frost and a few freezing fog patches and then low pressure coming in to northern ireland and affecting parts of england and wales on thursday. a more persistent rain on thursday. this week, it will be wet at times, some hills know because it is cold enough that that. often windy with them at low pressure close by and often frost overnight as well. right now, some parts of england are dealing with some significant flooding was that there are flood warnings still in force, still some

severe flood warnings and weather warnings from the met office. details are on our website.

this is bbc news. i'm martin croxton. —— i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8pm. five severe flood warnings are in place along south yorkshire's river don, meaning there's a threat to life for those in the area. if the river rises again tonight or tomorrow, and it's in conjunction with a high tide and a further fall of rain, the village simply will not be able to cope. the tories say a jeremy corbyn government could cause an economic crisis within months of coming to power. labour calls the claim a complete work of fiction. remembering the fallen of the world wars and the conflicts since. a world war ii dakota plane dropped 750,000 poppies over the white cliffs of dover to remember those who lost their lives.