The European Union is ready for a no-deal Brexit and Britain would suffer most under such a scenario, Brussels has claimed.

European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said no-deal would never be the bloc's preferred outcome.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to take Britain out of the EU on 31 October, with or without an agreement in place.

No-deal Brexit 'would cause bumps in road'

Speaking on Monday, Mr Johnson said Britain can "definitely" get ready for no-deal.

But the EU was decidedly more downbeat on the prospect of this happening.


"This will obviously cause significant disruption both for citizens and for businesses and this will have a serious negative economic impact," Ms Bertaud said, referring to a no-deal Brexit.

"That would be proportionally much greater in the United Kingdom than it would be in the EU 27 states."

Image: Mr Johnson has vowed to take the UK out of the EU on 31 October, with or without a deal

She cited European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as having said that if it a no-deal Brexit happened "it is the British who will unfortunately be the biggest losers".

The comments come after a British government document detailing the potential impacts of a no-deal divorce was leaked at the weekend.

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According to the Operation Yellowhammer assessment published in The Sunday Times, Britain could be hit with a three-month "meltdown" at its ports, a hard Irish border and shortages of food and medicine.

Downing Street said on Monday that the dossier was "out of date" and the government was "making all necessary preparations ahead of 31 October".

A "large-scale public information campaign" is expected to begin shortly, Number 10 said.

A spokeswoman said: "In relation to business we have been engaging widely and will continue to do so and that's been significantly stepped up in recent weeks.

"We have published numerous documents on how businesses can prepare.

"You can expect to see further information being published in the coming weeks in relation to how the public... can further prepare and the changes that they are likely to see across a range of areas."

Asked about the leaked dossier, Mr Johnson said: "If you look at the preparations the UK had made by March 29, we were very far advanced.

"Things then slipped back a bit, but we're very confident that by 31 October we will be ready and that's the crucial thing.

'UK heading for a Trump-deal Brexit'

"I think that's what people want. People are very confident themselves that they can do it.

"I'm not pretending that there won't be bumps on the road, there will be. I said that on the steps of Downing Street.

"But if everybody puts their minds to it, I have absolutely no doubt that we can get ready."

Mr Johnson will this week head to Berlin and Paris as he tries to secure a new Brexit deal.

During trips to Germany and France, the prime minister will tell Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron "there must be a new deal to replace the failed Brussels deal" - but if one cannot be struck, the UK is prepared to leave the EU without an agreement.

No-deal plan covers 'absolute worst case' - Gove

Mr Johnson acknowledged there was a "reluctance" among EU leaders to countenance scrapping the backstop - the insurance policy designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

"There may well be bumps in the road but we will be ready to come out on October 31 deal or no deal," the prime minister said.

"Now of course our friends and partners on the other side of the Channel are showing a little bit of reluctance at the moment to change their position.

"That's fine - I'm confident that they will - but in the meantime we have to get ready for a no-deal outcome.

"I want a deal. We're ready to work with our friends and partners to get a deal but if you want a good deal for the UK, you must simultaneously get ready to come out without one."

Number 10 said it expected there to be "very little discussion" of Brexit during the visit to Berlin on Wednesday and Paris on Thursday, with other topics to be the focus.

The visits come after Mr Johnson reiterated that free movement between the UK and Ireland would not end in the event of a no-deal Brexit during an hour-long phone call with Irish leader Leo Varadkar on Monday.

The pair have agreed to meet in Dublin in early September.