Merkel promises to ‘fully support’ Ireland on Brexit
ANGELA Merkel told Leo Varadkar, when they met in Berlin yesterday, that her government will give Ireland ‘unconditional’ support on Brexit.
And the German Chancellor later emphasised to the media: ‘A solution must be found for this... and Germany fully supports the Irish position.’
The two leaders met in the German capital for an hour yesterday to discuss issues including Brexit, digital tax and trade.
Britain is due to leave the EU in a little over a year, but it must first resolve how to keep open the Irish border.
The Taoiseach stressed that a ‘backstop solution’, under which the North would remain part of the EU’s tariff-free Customs Union while Britain leaves, must ‘apply unless and until a workable alternative agreed solution is found’.
He has called for ‘more detailed written proposals’ from British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government that can be made legally binding.
If London proposes ‘something that is very close to a customs union, then I think that would solve a lot of the problems related to the Irish border, but if it’s something much less and much weaker than that, then it would not,’ he added.
But he said that ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’ and that he is reassured by the depth of support from Germany, the EU’s most populous country. ‘Ireland can rely on us,’ Ms Merkel said.
Responding to a question about conflict over a hard border and the possible solution of a customs partnership between the UK and the EU, Mr Varadkar reiterated his belief that a hard border ‘can be avoided and will be avoided’.
He welcomed the fact that the British government accepts now that a backstop needs to be included in the withdrawal agreement, although the text of this has yet to be agreed.
‘The alternative solution could be found in a very close new trading relationship between the UK and the EU. And .. some of the papers produced by the British government talk about a customs union partnership. But we would need to understand and negotiate with the British government as to exactly what that means.’
In Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk was upbeat before he chairs a two-day summit starting tomorrow.
‘We have achieved success’ on defending
Donald Tusk is upbeat before two-day summit
the rights of citizens hit hardest by Britain’s departure and the divorce bill that Mrs May’s government must pay, Mr Tusk wrote in an invitation letter to the leaders.
He said Mrs May has accepted the idea of ‘full regulatory alignment between Ireland and Northern Ireland if there is no other possibility to avoid a hard border. This bodes well for the rest of the negotiations.’
Tánaiste Simon Coveney said that without an agreement on the backstop, there ‘will be no withdrawal treaty’.
He told the Dáil: ‘What we are saying here now is that we will have to get agreement on the backstop to ensure that it is legally operable and agreed between the British and the EU negotiating teams.’