Agree on border backstop or no Brexit deal: Barnier
It must be done by November, ‘it’s that simple’, says EU negotiator
THERE will be no Brexit agreement unless an operational ‘backstop’ arrangement for the Irish border can be agreed, the EU negotiator, Michel Barnier has insisted.
However, he said he was ‘determined’ to reach an agreement ahead of the October deadline, although he said there would be ‘flexibility’ for further negotiations.
Standing alongside UK Brexit secretary Dominic Raab after negotiations in Brussels, Mr Barnier said: ‘Week after week and step by step we are eliminating subjects, bones of contention... I’m determined, we’re going to find an agreement for an orderly withdrawal which is much better than the opposite.
‘Dominic and I think it’s possible to reach that in October.’
Mr Barnier added: ‘If you take account of the date chosen by the UK to leave, that’s March 29 [next year], which is in UK law and you simply count backwards the time that you need for ratification about three months here or there then it takes you to November at the latest. It’s as simple as that.’
His comments follow concerns that a deal may not materialise before the deadline.
Mr Raab said he wanted to continue ‘accelerating and intensifying’ negotiations, adding: ‘We’re committed to resolving the deal by [the October council] and ultimately on my side I am stubbornly optimistic that a deal is within our reach.’
Earlier, Mr Barnier said a backstop is ‘essential to conclude the negotiations’, stating: ‘With no backstop there will be no agreement.’ He described the issue as a ‘matter of some urgency’, and said that he had asked the Brexit secretary to provide data on how the ‘necessary controls and checks take place’.
In the event of a hard no-deal Brexit, the European Union wants a backstop but unionists fear that would effectively create a border down the Irish Sea between the islands of Ireland and Britain.
However, British Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly said she will refuse to contemplate any backstop deal that treats the North differently from the rest of the UK. Mr Raab emphasised that the British government is determination to find a solution on Northern issue.
He said: ‘On Northern Ireland we remain committed to giving effect to the joint report, continuing the work on the potential solutions, working with Michel and his team on some of the issues he’s raised and continuing to drive that forward.
‘The solutions must be workable... for the communities living in Northern Ireland and living in the Republic of Ireland.’
Mr Barnier also told media that the future partnership between the EU and UK would be without precedent. He said: ‘If we achieve what was in the March guidelines, then you really do have a partnership with no precedent.
‘This is a very ambitious free trade agreement, [with] specific agreements in all sorts of area of common interest.’
Mr Barnier was later asked if he believed the Conservative Party conference, taking place from September 30 to October 3, would impact negotiations.
He said: ‘I’m not going to comment on the internal political life on the UK, conferences of this party or that party. We’re negotiating with Theresa May’s government, with Dominic Raab and his team, and they’re the ones round the negotiating table.’
‘It is a matter of urgency’