Coveney: UK Brexit plan ‘a step in right direction’

BRITAIN’S Brexit White Paper is a step in the right direction that will move the process ‘from the politics of parliaments to the negotiating rooms in Brussels’, Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said.

The document has finally set out the UK’s objectives for its EU exit after months of stalling, and was hailed as ‘pragmatic’ and a step towards a soft Brexit by the Foreign Affairs Minister yesterday.

The 104-page document makes just one reference to the Irish ‘backstop’ for avoiding a hard border with the North, which envisions a future free trade relationship between the UK and EU so comprehensive that the measure ‘will not have to be used’.

That is in line with the EU’s position but Fianna Fáil are concerned that the UK has failed to provide any detail on what the backstop will be, or when the legal text on it will be produced.

However, negotiations between the EU and UK are set to resume on Monday, and the Tánaiste has said there is no point in trying to ‘undermine’ or ‘find inconsistencies’ in the White Paper before then, noting that Theresa May had finally delivered ‘a clear negotiating position’.

‘We think now that that clear negotiating position is really the first time in about six months that there is clarity coming from the British government in terms of what they’re actually looking for in these negotiations. From that point of view I think it’s helpful,’ Mr Coveney told reporters.

‘That change, that new direction has been also, we think, a step in the right direction, towards a pragmatic, sensible Brexit that allows the European Union and the UK to trade with each other in the future in a way that works for everybody, as opposed to something that’s driven by an ideology or some hardline thinking.’

The paper was finally published yesterday amid chaotic scenes in the House of Commons.

Jeers and roars greeted the new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab as he rose to announce the plan, with Opposition members complaining they had not been provided with a copy ahead of the debate. The parliament had to be suspended after copies of the document were thrown around the chamber.

The document proposes a comprehensive free-trade agreement with the EU after it leaves the bloc in March 2019, and a ‘common rulebook’ that would keep the UK aligned to European standards.

The UK will formally ask the EU for a post-Brexit ‘association agreement’, including a ‘free-trade area’ for goods, a looser arrangement for financial services, alongside a security partnership and continued membership of many EU agencies. It also seeks to end the free movement of people, while at the same time allowing ‘highly skilled’ workers from the UK and EU to travel freely between the two territories.

Fianna Fáil Brexit spokeswoman Lisa Chambers warned this could be seen as ‘cherry picking’ from the rules of the Single Market and Customs Union, which would be rejected out of hand by the EU.

‘In the context of the migrant crisis, this is a big topic.

‘If we have a situation where the UK gets a deal on free trade that still allows it to close its borders there will be a queue of other EU member states wanting the same thing, and that will cause real problems for the bloc,’ she told the Irish Daily Mail.

She also expressed concerns of the solitary reference to the Irish backstop in the document, calling for clarity on what it will contain and a deadline for it to be finalised. However, she did welcome the White Paper, which she believes will serve as a ‘starting point for negotiations’.

The Tánaiste has said he hopes the UK government will provide clarity on the backstop before the end of the summer.

The Irish Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the document as ‘real progress’, but warned many aspects would be unacceptable.

Negotiations resume Monday ‘Pragmatic, sensible exit’