Anger as EU chief Barnier issues hard border warning
THE EU’s leading Brexit negotiator warned yesterday that border checks will be “unavoidable” if the UK leaves both the single market and customs union.
Michel Barnier also starkly warned that the transition period could be in doubt, amid substantial disagreements between London and Brussels, sending sterling weaker.
“It is important to tell the truth.
“A UK decision to leave the single market and to leave the customs union would make border checks unavoidable,” Mr Barnier said.
Last night, DUP MEP Diane Dodds hit back at the comments, saying that the UK had stated that it would not impose a physcial infrastructure at the border.
She said: “It seems it is only the EU that is brandishing the threat of customs controls.
“The impact would not be isolated to companies and consumers in Northern Ireland. The Irish beef sector, which sells 52% of all its exports to the UK, would be only one of many devastated.”
Mrs Dodds added: “It remains the DUP’s position that best vehicle for finding border solutions is via the future UK-EU relationship, through a comprehensive free trade agreement and a fresh customs partnership with Brussels.
“We will continue to pursue progress that is in the national interest and in keeping with the democratic result of the referendum.”
The developments come despite the deal struck in December between the EU and UK.
The objective of that deal is to reach a new UK-EU relationship — but if this doesn’t occur, then the UK will come up with specific solutions.
A final element was added at the request of the Irish Government, which essentially states that if no final deal can be done, the UK will maintain “full alignment” with the EU rules required to ensure that north-south co-operation in terms of trade, regulations and standards, can continue.
However, two months on, a clearly frustrated Mr Barnier said that the UK had yet to table solutions that would avoid a hard border.
He said any solution must be “precise, clear and unambiguous”.
Mr Barnier said the commitment to maintain full regulatory alignment must now be written into the legally-binding withdrawal agreement “to guarantee that there will be no hard Border whatever the circumstances”.
“This means that we must now start legally defining how this scenario would work in operational terms. There must be no ambiguity here.”
Mr Barnier yesterday outlined the three options for ensuring no obstructive physical borders on the island of Ireland, as per the wording of the December agreement.
First, through a newly negotiated EU-UK relationship; or second through alternative solutions — although these have yet to be put forward by the UK.
Failing those, the third fallback option of regulatory alignment in the event of no deal.
That third option — which Mr Barnier said now needed to be legally enshrined in the exit agreement — has the potential to complicate the UK’s ability to trade with countries that have different standards to the EU.
An added problem is that there is so far no agreement on what rules should be aligned.
Brexit Secretary David Davis hit back at Mr Barnier in a stinging statement.
He said: “Given the intense work that has taken place this week it is surprising to hear that Michel Barnier is unclear on the UK’s position in relation to the implementation period.
“We are seeking a time-limited period that maintains access to each other’s markets on existing terms. However, for any such period to work, both sides will need a way to resolve disputes in the unlikely event that they occur.”