Taoiseach warns May ‘the ball is in Britain’s court’
INTERNAL politics faced by British Prime Minister Theresa May will not “soften” Ireland’s position on the backstop, the Taoiseach has warned.
Leo Varadkar said the country has to stand by its objectives despite political difficulties in the UK.
He added: “I just hope Prime Minister May is in a position to get any potential agreement through her Cabinet and through her parliament.”
Mr Varadkar is in Helsinki attending the second day of the annual congress of the European People’s Party.
It is still uncertain if the British Cabinet will be meeting this week to reach a final agreement over the Irish backstop and the EU withdrawal treaty.
Mr Varadkar said yesterday: “The ball is very much in London’s court.
“The difficulties that happen in the United Kingdom can’t allow us in any way to soften our position in my view.”
Ireland’s EU commissioner Phil Hogan doesn’t expect a breakthrough on the backstop proposals until the December European Council.
He believes it unlikely any summit will be called this month to finalise
Taoiseach the withdrawal agreement.
He added: “I think if we don’t get proposals in the next few days it’s unlikely we’ll have a deal in November, so the pressure is on the UK to make those proposals.”
Mr Hogan, who is also in Helsinki, said the UK government has generated a lot of expectation but Ireland has not received any proposals yet.
He added the European Commission has strengthening its preparations for a no-deal Brexit.
He said: “Mrs May has spelt out she has a problem with the backstop, the Taoiseach and the European Union have made it perfectly clear there will be no change in the joint report from December 2017.
“We now have to wait for proposals from the UK about how they can adapt their position to accommodate the agreement they’ve already made in relation to the backstop on the island of Ireland.” been