Brexit talks at severe risk of being derailed by UK: Barnier
BREXIT negotiations are at risk if the UK refuses to soften its red lines on the Irish border, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier has warned.
Addressing the All-Island Civic Dialogue conference at Dundalk IT yesterday, Mr Barnier warned there was a ‘real risk’ the talks will be derailed if solutions on the border aren’t found by the next European Council summit in June.
Echoing this view, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there would need to be ‘real and substantial progress’ if there is any chance of a withdrawal agreement being concluded by the October deadline.
The Irish Daily Mail has already revealed that the ‘substantial progress’ being sought is a legally binding commitment to the backstop agreement – which would keep Northern Ireland aligned to the rules of the Customs Union and Single Market.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted on leaving both organisations in her Brexit red lines, and will be unable to leave the North behind if she is to continue to rely on the support of the DUP to uphold her government.
Mr Barnier yesterday called on the UK to soften those red lines, or risk letting talks collapse.
‘Until we reach this agreement and this operational solution for Northern Ireland, a backstop – and we are ready for any proposal – there is a risk, a real risk,’ he said.
In an event that demonstrated the solidarity between Ireland and the EU on Brexit, Mr Varadkar was never far behind the Frenchman. ‘We agree that there has to be real and substantial progress and meaningful progress before the June European Council summit, if we are going to be able to conclude a withdrawal agreement in time for October,’ the Taoiseach said.
‘We all believe that the best outcome, both for our wider trading concerns and specifically for the border, will be a very close relationship between the UK and the EU.
‘For that to be achieved, the UK’s approach to negotiations will need to change in some way.’
Mr Varadkar also sought to play down claims that his Government is in some way trying to use Brexit to bring about a united Ireland.
‘There is no question of Ireland or the EU being interested in a land grab in Northern Ireland, that is not our position at all,’ he said.
Mr Barnier, meanwhile, insisted that the EU was trying to secure an outcome that would achieve the best result for both parties, Europe and Britain.
‘We all believe the best outcome for all would be a very close relationship between the UK and EU,’ he said.
‘This is an extraordinary negotiation, very complex, extraordinarily complex, and we want to succeed with the UK, not against the UK.’
Tánaiste Simon Coveney put the ball in the UK’s court, saying they could not continue to rule out solutions while failing to provide new ones.
‘The British government has red lines all over the place and expects the EU to accommodate them. We have red lines, so does the EU, but nobody seems to focus on that,’ said Mr Coveney.
‘It is not OK for the British government to rule out a whole series of options and then pretend that somebody, somewhere is going to find a solution to find a way forward. The next move is Britain’s in the negotiations.’
Mr Barnier travelled across the border to visit the Peace Wall in Belfast last night, while today he will travel to the village of Kingsmill, Co. Armagh, where ten Protestant workers were shot and killed during the Troubles in 1976.
Speaking after yesterday’s event in Dundalk, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin called for more transparency from the EU and the Irish Government, saying there was ‘too much of a grey area’ over exactly what is meant by ‘no hard border’ and ‘regulatory alignment’.
‘No one has yet defined what they mean by “no hard border” in 18 months,’ he said.
‘Approach will need to change’ ‘With the UK, not against the UK’