* Pathway to a deal still exists, PM Johnson tells cabinet
* UK-EU talks are taking serious turn
* EU summit on Oct. 17-18
(Adds Barnier, Juncker)
By William James
LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson told his cabinet on Sunday a last-minute Brexit deal was
still possible but there was significant work to be done to
reach one, as intensive talks with the European Union entered
their most critical stage.
In a pivotal week that could decide the future of Brexit and
the fate of the world's fifth largest economy, Johnson is trying
to strike an exit deal with the EU to allow an orderly split
with its biggest trading partner on Oct. 31.
But Johnson must navigate the complexities of EU politics to
clinch a deal at an Oct. 17-18 EU summit and then try to
convince a deeply divided British parliament on Oct. 19 to
ratify any agreement.
If he succeeds, Britain will leave the bloc on Oct. 31 with
arrangements to minimise disruption at borders and preserve the
complex supply chains that underpin swathes of the economy.
If he fails, Britain faces an uncertain future - lawmakers
will begin a battle to delay Brexit that could end up being
decided in the courts, while Johnson will fight for a no-deal
exit at the end of the month to ensure his political survival.
British and EU negotiators are working through the weekend
to see if they can turn the latest proposals into a deal that
works for both sides.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier was updating the
remaining 27 member states in Brussels on Sunday afternoon.
"Expect him just to say that talks will need to go on," one
EU diplomat said, adding that another update for the national
envoys will come at a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on
Tuesday, just two days before the make-or-break summit.
Even if the latest round of talks were to go well, EU Brexit
watchers still expect a delay to the Oct. 31 departure date,
saying time would be needed to polish the detail and get any
agreement ratified by Britain's factious House of Commons.
"It's up to the Brits do decide if they will ask for an
extension. But if Boris Johnson were to ask for extra time -
which probably he won't - I would consider it unhistoric to
refuse such a request," European Commission head Jean-Claude
Juncker said in an interview published on Sunday by Austrian
media outlet Kurier.
Extension options range from as short as an extra month to
half a year or longer and the other EU states would need to
agree unanimously to grant it.
Earlier, Johnson briefed cabinet members on progress in
those talks by conference call.
"The prime minister updated cabinet on the current progress
being made in ongoing Brexit negotiations, reiterating that a
pathway to a deal could be seen but that there is still a
significant amount of work to get there and we must remain
prepared to leave on October 31," a spokeswoman from his office
said.
"The Prime Minister said there was a way forward for a deal
that could secure all our interests."
LITTLE TIME
If Britain leaves the EU without a deal, many expect serious
short-term disruption with possible food, fuel and medicine
shortages, and long term damage to Britain's reputation as a
safe and stable home for foreign investment.
The government says it is doing everything it can to get a
deal, and that it has contingency plans to mitigate the impact
of a no-deal exit.
Ireland has proven the toughest issue in the Brexit talks:
specifically how to prevent the British province of Northern
Ireland becoming a back door into the EU's markets without
having border controls.
The sides fear that controls on the 500-km (300-mile) border
with Northern Ireland would undermine the 1998 Good Friday
Agreement which ended three decades of sectarian and political
conflict that killed more than 3,600 people.
To leave with a deal on Oct. 31, Johnson has just days to
agree with the EU on border arrangements.
Although the talks have made more progress than many
expected a week ago, sources in Johnson's office have said that
a deal remains a long way off, echoing EU caution.
The Sunday Times reported that Johnson will speak to German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and
Juncker by the end of Monday.
If successful in Brussels, Johnson then has to win a vote in
a parliament that rejected his predecessor Theresa May's deal
three times earlier this year. A vote is expected to take place
in a rare Saturday session on Oct. 19.
Since becoming prime minister, Johnson has yet to win a vote
in parliament and, after kicking 21 lawmakers out of his party
for not backing his Brexit plans, is well short of a majority.
The three main opposition parties - Labour, the Scottish
National Party and Liberal Democrats - are expected to oppose
any final Brexit deal he might get.
That leaves Johnson's hopes pinned to a group of Labour
rebels and the small party which notionally keeps him in power,
Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.
The DUP position is unclear, after the party's deputy leader
Nigel Dodds said the mooted eleventh-hour solution to the
deadlock over Brexit could not work.
(Reporting by William James, Additional reporting by Foo Yun
Chee and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Editing by Guy
Faulconbridge, Deepa Babington and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)