CONFIDENCE ABOUT A BREXIT DEAL RISES AS UK AND EU MAKE PROGRESS IN TALKS
But Northern Irish party in coalition with British government may have stymied negotiations over borders issue
Britain and the European Union said they were confident they would be able to reach a deal on the first stage of the UK’s withdrawal negotiations from the bloc, but were unable to conclude the talks yesterday.
The EU has insisted that Britain must make “sufficient progress” on three key issues – the rights of EU citizens, the Irish border and the divorce bill – if it is to move on to phase two of the talks, negotiating a trade deal with the EU.
British prime minister Theresa May was in Brussels yesterday hoping to finalise an agreement ahead of an EU summit on December 14 and 15.
Despite increasing numbers of reports that indicated a deal was about to be done yesterday afternoon, the president of the European Commission, JeanClaude Juncker, said a couple of issues still needed to be worked on.
Mr Juncker and Mrs May were keen to stress that progress had been made and said negotiations would continue over the rest of the week.
“I am confident that we will resume this positively,” Mrs May said before she went into a meeting with EU chief Donald Tusk.
It appeared that the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Irish party that is propping up Mrs May’s Conservative minority government, had intervened at the last minute, putting the deal on hold.
Mrs May is believed to have called DUP leader Arlene Foster from Brussels after speaking to EU negotiators. Mrs Foster said she would not support any deal that would compromise the “economic and constitutional integrity of the UK”.
Ireland has been the main sticking point of the negotiations, with Dublin and London disagreeing over how to manage the border after Brexit.
It appeared that a breakthrough had been made as Britain conceded to the Irish government’s insistence that no hard border would be reinstated between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, had previously sought guarantees that the UK would not deviate too far from EU standards on key areas such as health and agriculture after Britain leaves the bloc.
Dublin and London are believed to have agreed that there will continue to be regulatory alignment on both sides of the Irish border after March 2019.
A paragraph from the draft of the negotiating text seen by Ireland’s state broadcaster RTE indicated the UK had agreed that there would be no divergence between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland of the rules covering the EU single market and customs union after Brexit.
The reports prompted the DUP leader to make a statement on the matter.
Mrs Foster said: “The DUP will not accept any kind of regulatory divergence that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.”
A British government source told The Irish Times there was “a significant difference” between the phrase “continued regulatory alignment” and “no regulatory divergence” between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Mrs Foster did not say whether the DUP would be willing to accept a deal that includes regulatory alignment with the Republic of Ireland.
Mrs May is reliant on the DUP to prop up her government via a confidence and supply agreement, after she failed to win a majority in the UK general election this year.
It is not clear whether regulatory alignment would mean that Northern Ireland stays in the single market and the Customs Union, while the rest of the UK leaves.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said if that was the case, then the British capital, where the majority of residents voted to remain in the EU, should also be allowed to stay in the EU bodies.
Similar comments were made by Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon, who said there was “no good practical reason” why other parts of the UK could not retain “regulatory alignment” with the EU if Northern Ireland was permitted to do so.
Negotiations on the other two main issues – the divorce bill and EU citizens’ rights – are believed to be nearing completion.
Last week, the UK increased its offer to €50 billion (Dh217bn) to settle its accounts with the EU, according to various media reports.
Meanwhile, it is understood that three million citizens from other EU states who want to stay in the UK will not have to pay to apply for settled status. Settled status would mean those who have lived in the UK for five years would have the same rights to health care, education, benefits and pensions as British citizens.
The DUP will not accept regulatory divergence that separates Northern Ireland from the UK ARLENE FOSTER DUP leader