Barnier not keen on UK backstop plan
THERESA May’s latest Brexit proposals received a frosty reception in Brussels, with chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier raising objections to her plan for a time-limited customs backstop covering the whole UK.
And a day after foreign secretary Boris Johnson was recorded saying the UK was ready to take a more combative approach to talks, Mr Barnier said he would not be intimidated by the British seeking to blame Brussels for their inability to secure the Brexit they want.
Mr Barnier said it would not be feasible to extend the European Commission’s backstop plan – under which Northern Ireland would remain part of the EU’s customs territory after Brexit – to include the whole of the UK.
And he said Mrs May’s plans for a temporary backstop were not in line with the needs of Brussels, Dublin or Northern Ireland for stability, turning one of her own slogans against her to declare: ‘Backstop means backstop.’
But within minutes of concluding a press conference in Brussels, Mr Barnier took to Twitter to correct the impression that he was rejecting the UK proposals out of hand, stressing that they would be the subject of discussions in the coming weeks. Downing Street issued a statement restating Mrs May’s firm opposition to the proposals put forward by the Commission, which she said would create a customs border down the Irish Sea. It pointedly noted that both the UK and EU were committed to preserving the Good Friday peace accord.
The Democratic Unionist Party accused Mr Barnier of lacking respect for the constitutional integrity of the UK, accusing him of ‘an outrageous attempt to revert to the annexation of Northern Ireland’.
Mrs May’s customs backstop proposal was thrashed out in an intensive series of meetings with senior British ministers on Thursday, amid rumours that Brexit secretary David Davis might resign if it left the UK in the Customs Union on an open-ended basis.
The plan envisages the whole of the UK remaining part of key elements of the Customs Union until a better arrangement is in place – something which the Government expects can be achieved by the end of 2021.
The UK prime minister believes this would keep the Irish border open, while avoiding creating a customs border between Northern Ireland and the British mainland.
But Mr Barnier said Mrs May’s insistence that the arrangement must be time-limited meant it could not be regarded as a true backstop.
‘Backstop means backstop,’ he said, adding: ‘The temporary backstop is not in line with what we want or what Ireland and Northern Ireland want and need.’