Leo: ‘I don’t know how to satisfy DUP’
Taoiseach ‘keen to move on to next phase’ of Brexit
EU ruled out any change to deal
THE Taoiseach has said he cannot satisfy ardent Brexiteers or the DUP because he doesn’t know what they want, or would demand next if granted concessions.
Ireland had repeatedly provided assistance on demands for clarification of the Withdrawal Agreement now being debated at Westminster, Leo Varadkar said yesterday during his visit to Mali.
‘We’ve also given written assurance,’ he said, when asked about the impasse. ‘The summit conclusions at our last meeting in December provided written assurances, but what’s happening at the moment is there is close contact between the UK and EU institutions as to whether a further set of written guarantees, explanations and assurances could make a difference.’
Mr Varadkar also said a ‘lot of the opposition to the Withdrawal Agreement and the backstop might be based on suppositions and misunderstandings about our intent as the EU’.
He continued: ‘Our intent, once the Withdrawal Agreement has been ratified by Westminster and the European Parliament, is to get into the talks on the future relationship on the new economic and trade treaty with Britain, on the new security partnership with Britain. We don’t want to trap the UK into anything – we want to get on to the talks about the future relationship right away. I think it’s those kind of assurances we are happy to give.’
When asked if anything would satisfy hardline opponents, Mr Varadkar said: ‘It’s impossible for me to speak on behalf of the DUP or on behalf of ardent Brexiteers. I can’t say what would or would not satisfy them. What I can say is that Ireland set out its objectives from day one: we regret the UK is leaving the EU, but they are.
The Taoiseach added that the Withdrawal Agreement, ‘including the protocol on Ireland, achieves those objectives’.
He said: ‘We’re keen to get them ratified by Westminster and the European Parliament as soon as possible, so we can get on to the next phase, which is just as important. That’s about negotiating that new future relationship – the trade partnership, the economic partnership, and the security partnership – and the more we delay ratification, the more we actually delay getting that done.’
The Taoiseach’s comments came yesterday as the EU said it is considering ways to help Theresa May convince the British parliament to back the Brexit treaty, but ruled out any change to the deal.
EU sources told Reuters that senior officials in Brussels are discussing whether and how to issue ‘reassurances’ that might help the British prime minister overcome resistance before the MPs’ vote in London next week.
Among these is a request they said Mrs May put to fellow EU leaders at a summit before the Christmas break to commit to having a new UK-EU free trade treaty in place by the end of 2021. However, the EU shows no sign of going beyond an existing aspiration to do that, and making a hard promise.
The date is important as it could allow Mrs May to assure her own party and others that the unpopular backstop would not be triggered after a status quo transition period ends some time by 2022. The backstop would bind Britain to follow EU rules to avoid a hard Irish border unless a better way is agreed to do that by means of a new trade pact. Critics of Mrs May’s deal to smooth Britain’s passage out of the EU say the backstop could leave it subject to EU rules indefinitely, after it gives up any say over them.
EU officials familiar with the discussions said they saw little sign of any shift in the position of EU leaders last month, when they said the agreement could not be renegotiated and that they would make no binding commitments that could be construed as altering it.
‘We can provide reassurances,’ one official said. ‘But whatever it might be will just reiterate the [summit] conclusions...’
The EU executive repeated yesterday that leaders would not renegotiate the treaty. ‘The deal that is on the table is the best and the only deal possible,’ said the European Commission’s chief spokesman, Margaritis Schinas.
senan.molony@dailymail.ie