EU pledges: Irish issues are ours too
Top Brexit negotiator reassures Coveney as border fears mount
MICHEL Barnier has given Ireland a welcome Brexit boost amid domestic political uncertainty by assuring Simon Coveney: ‘Irish issues are EU issues.’
It comes as the possible Government collapse here has been greeted with confusion in Brussels as vital Brexit talks, including ones about the Irish border, are only weeks away.
At a crucial EU summit on December 14/15, the Government will have to decide whether to allow Brexit talks to proceed. The Government has a veto it can wield to prevent negotiations between the EU and Britain from progressing to phase two, as the UK wants, if the Government believes the question of the North border has not been sufficiently dealt with.
And chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier offered reassurances yesterday in Brussels after a heads-of-state meeting which was attended by the Foreign Affairs Minister in place of Leo Varadkar.
Mr Barnier tweeted: ‘Another good meeting with Simon Coveney. I updated on #Brexit state of play. Strong solidarity with #Ireland: Irish issues are EU issues.’ The minister later thanked Mr Barnier for ‘reaffirming EU solidarity’ with Ireland on Brexit.
After the meeting, Mr Coveney said British assurances on the border issue were ‘aspirational’ and demanded a ‘credible road map’ from the UK setting out how it would ensure there was no return to a hard border. The UK has been firm in its commitment to withdrawing from the Customs Union and Single Market, but he said it was difficult to see how border checks could be avoided if there was ‘regulatory divergence’ between North and South.
Mr Coveney said: ‘We can’t move to phase two on the basis of aspiration. We have to move to phase two on the basis of a credible road map or the parameters around which we can design a credible road map to ensure that it doesn’t happen.
‘The truth is that if we see regulatory divergence between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, it’s very hard to see in that scenario how you avoid hard border checks. So we need progress on this issue in the context of the regulatory divergence issues.
‘I hope and expect we can get that by December so that we can all move on. If we can’t, then I think there is going to be a difficulty coming up.’
Mr Coveney was urged by EU leaders to wield the veto if talks on the border do not reach a satisfactory outcome.
Separately, at a conference in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Kevin Callinan of the Impact trade union expressed fears that Ireland’s economy – north and south – could be sacrificed if movement on the UK’s Brexit ‘divorce bill’ convinces EU states to concede on commencing trade talks.
He said: ‘My fear is that many of our counterparts may not fully understand what’s at stake on this island. This runs the risk that trade negotiations could gather momentum while the crucial Irish border issue remains on the shelf.’
And Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spokesman, Stephen Donnelly, has sought to calm tensions over the prospect of Ireland heading into the December summit without a government in place.
Reports from Brussels said the EU wanted assurances over whether the Taoiseach would have the executive authority to represent Ireland at the summit but Mr Donnelly said this was one issue where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were aligned.
He said: ‘Fianna Fáil is working with the Government on Brexit. We’re aligned on Brexit to the point where Simon Coveney has been complimentary of our work together on the issue. There are elections across [the EU’s 27 member states] all the time. What’s important is that the [EU] Council knows that regardless of whether there’s a Fine Gael government or a Fianna Fáil government, our position on these issues remains the same.’
‘Credible road map needed’ FF ‘working with Government’