Ireland must have ‘backstop’ to prevent hard border, says Barnier
MICHEL BARNIER yesterday insisted that plans to create a border between Britain and Northern Ireland were justified, as he rejected claims from the DUP that he was not an “honest broker”.
In a speech in Dundalk, Ireland, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator denied trying to force Britain to reverse the referendum vote by insisting on an Irish “backstop” clause.
If Britain’s preferred solution of a free trade deal or technological solutions failed, the clause would prevent the return of a hard border with Ireland, he said. But it would do so by keeping Northern Ireland in the single market and customs union, creating a border in the Irish Sea.
Theresa May had ruled out any such border but was under pressure for an alternative that would guarantee no post-brexit customs controls.
Despite the looming deadline of the summit in June, Britain has yet to put any fresh ideas on the table. Arlene Foster, leader of Northern Ireland’s DUP party, accused Mr Barnier of failing to recognise the constitutional issues thrown up by the clause, saying he did not understand the issue and was “not an honest broker”. “Michel Barnier is trying to present himself as someone who cares about Northern Ireland – if that is the case, he needs to hear the fact that we are part of the United Kingdom [and] will remain [so] constitutionally, politically and economically,” she said.
“His proposal of us being in an allireland regulatory scenario with a border down the Irish Sea simply does not work.” Mr Barnier denied he had approached the negotiations in a “spirit of revenge” and insisted his “door was open” to Mrs Foster. “We have no intention of questioning the UK’S constitutional order,” he said.
Mr Barnier said Mrs May had agreed to respect Ireland’s place in the single market and so had to accept that goods exported to Ireland must comply with EU rules.
“It is called the single market for a reason,” he said. He insisted the threat of the backstop clause was not to force Britain to “stay in the single market, the customs union, or even to reverse Brexit.”
He said: “The backstop is not there to change UK red lines, it is there because of the UK red lines.”
Earlier, Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, said that Mrs May’s stance left Ireland no choice but to insist she sign the backstop clause.