ARLENE TO BARNEY WITH BRUSSELS ON BORDER PROPOSAL
»»DUP team meets with EU chief »»Foster slams draft Brexit text
DUP leader Arlene Foster has claimed the draft EU Brexit text is not “faithful” to the deal reached in December.
She told chief negotiator Michel Barnier during a “constructive” meeting in Brussels yesterday the section on future customs arrangements between the EU and UK was “unacceptable”.
The former Stormont First Minister also said she had advised Mr Barnier he had “overreached” in suggesting Northern Ireland could stay in the customs union after Brexit.
Mrs Foster was accompanied to the meeting with Mr Barnier in the European Commission by party colleagues Nigel Dodds, Sammy Wilson and Diane Dodds.
She added: “We stressed again the need to respect the constitutional position of Northern Ireland and of course the economic integrity of the single market of the UK as well.
“In that context we made the point we felt the current draft EU legal text was not a faithful or fair translation of the DUP team in meeting joint report from December. I also said to him I felt we had made significant progress in December and there was a recognition we needed to have a frictionless border on the island of Ireland.
“But there was also a recognition we needed to protect that market which is so critical for the Northern Ireland economy, and is so key for us, the UK market.
“We feel the current draft legal text has omissions in it. It also overreaches in other areas.” Deputy leader Mr
Dodds said it was “somewhat ironic to talk about wanting to remove any checks between the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and then for the EU to suggest setting up checks and a harder border between one part of the United Kingdom and another part of the United Kingdom”.
He added: “It is driving a coach and horses through the EU’S own principles about no hard borders.”
Mrs Foster also accused the EU of “overreach” in relation to a suggestion the North-south Ministerial Council, set up under the Good Friday Agreement, could play a role in terms of the single market continuing to apply where North-south co-operation was concerned.
She said: “It talks about giving the Northsouth Ministerial Council powers.
“Sorry, the European Union does not have the right to go into the Belfast Agreement in that fashion.”
Following the meeting Mr Barnier tweeted: “The EU is looking for practical solutions to avoiding a hard border, in respect of the constitutional status of NI, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement.”
We feel the current draft legal text has omissions in it...
ARLENE FOSTER
BRUSSELS YESTERDAY