Jean-Claude Juncker urges Theresa May to dump Chequers deal for a free trade agreement

BRUSSELS boss Jean-Claude Juncker has given Brexiteers a major boost by suggesting Theresa May should dump Chequers and pursue a free trade agreement with the EU.

The Commission chief insisted leaving the bloc meant quitting the Single Market and said the UK could “certainly not” stay half in just for goods.

His remarks deliver a potentially fatal blow to the PM’s plan, which EU diplomats describe as being on life support, ahead of next week’s informal EU summit in Salzburg.

But Mr Juncker also lavished praise on Britain as a crucial partner that “will never be an ordinary third country for us”.

He said Brussels agreed that the UK should pursue an ambitious “free trade area” with the EU in the form of a Canada-style deal.

The Commission boss also called for a “creative solution” to the Irish border to accompany a free trade agreement.

Brexiteers welcomed Mr Juncker’s intervention and said it showed why the PM should return to her original Brexit plan.

Addressing him, ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “You said our vote was a vote to leave the Single Market and its associated parts. I agree with you.

“You said twice that we need to come to a free trade deal. It’s what European exporters want and it’s what we want.

“Surely now the time is right, the ground is prepared for a Canada plus style trade deal between you and us.

“We leave political union but we carry on doing business on a tariff-free basis. We want it, increasingly I think you want it. Let’s get Brexit sorted.”

And Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman told The Sun: “President Juncker used his speech to warn Chequers is not acceptable to the EU.

“He strongly suggests a free trade agreement such as Super Canada when he talks of a free trade area.

“Tusk and Barnier have both offered a 100% tariff and quota free deal that effectively means a free trade area with only some electronic customs forms.

“We should accept this offer and we can then deliver a great trade deal for November.”

He added: “I very much welcome the new, more flexible approach the EU has taken to the Northern Ireland border.

“A creative solution, as Juncker put it, is exactly what we need.”

However, EU officials cautioned that British ministers were likely to be disappointed by Brussels’ interpretation of what a free trade area entails.

A senior source told The Sun: “The problem with free trade areas is that, like free trade agreements, they’re everything but free trade.

“They eliminate many restrictions, but the problem here is whatever type of deal we arrive at, you’ll always end up with a certain degree of friction.”

During the speech Mr Juncker also had a dig at UK plans to build a rival to the Galileo satellite.

He said: “A strong, united Europe will allow its member states to reach for the stars. Europe is still in the space race. No Member State could’ve done that on its own. Galileo is a success story, primarily a European success story. Without Europe there would be no Galileo.”

Elsewhere, Mr Juncker said the EU should do away with the need for Member States to agree unanimously on foreign policy decisions and tax laws.

But his speech prompted accusations from eurosceptics that he is trying to erode the role of individual countries and create a federal Europe.

Mr Farage said: “All of this means less to be done at the nation state level. It’s all about centralisation. Power, power, power.”

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