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Both critics and allies have described Monday’s meetings as political theater, and Johnson once more in Luxembourg reiterated that if a fresh agreement cannot be reached by late October, then his government would ensure the UK can exit the EU “on the 31st of October, deal or no deal.”

The encounter with Juncker was scheduled exactly one week after the Parliament in Westminster passed into law a measure designed to block the possibility of an abrupt and economically disruptive departure on October 31.

And after their lunchtime sit-down at a local restaurant, Juncker and Johnson emerged to boos from protesters and were forced to negotiate a scrum of reporters and photographers.

Within minutes, the European Commission issued a press release which said the head of the EU’s executive branch had reminded the UK prime minister that it was now up to the British government to “come forward with legally operational solutions that are compatible with the Withdrawal Agreement.”

“President Juncker underlined the Commission’s continued willingness and openness to examine whether such proposals meet the objectives of the backstop. Such proposals have not yet been made,” it added, in a point soon echoed by Bettel.

Sterling weakened sharply to $1.24 after Johnson failed to appear at the press conference, after having trended downwards during much of the day’s trading.

The currency had enjoyed a strong rally against the U.S. dollar last week, since the passage of parliamentary legislation last Monday that was designed to rule out a no-deal exit in October.

Political allies of the prime minister continued to indicate over the weekend that Johnson may try to circumvent that new legislation, and might defy a parliamentary majority that wants him to request a Brexit deadline extension if he is unable to win significant concessions from Brussels in the coming weeks.

As a consequence the ostensible reason for Monday’s working lunch with Juncker had prompted some skepticism.

“He clocks up the miles/meetings and can argue he tried,” said Robert Hayward, a legislator belonging to Johnson’s Conservative Party, of the Luxembourg trip. In a message to CNBC, Hayward said that the Luxembourg trip will allow the prime minister to later argue, “it’s not his fault” if a new deal is not reached.

Anand Menon, a director at the think tank The U.K. in a Changing Europe, also posited it was about “giving the impression of having tried once he’s failed,” as Johnson seeks to change key clauses in the existing Withdrawal Agreement that three times failed to win parliamentary approval back in London.