BORIS: NO- DEAL IS A POSSIBILITY
British PM’S free trade alert after talks blow
The key to unlocking this is to look at the overall picture here MICHEAL MARTIN BRUSSELS LAST NIGHT
BREXIT talks between Britain and the EU took a dive last night with Boris Johnson saying no- deal was “a strong possibility”.
If the UK crashed out, there would be no safeguard to free trade past the end of the year.
The Tor y prime minist er warned: “We need to be very, very clear there’s now a strong possibility that we will have a solution that’s more li ke an Australian relationship with t h e EU, t h a n a Canadi a n relationship with the EU.”
The EU, the world’s largest trading block with 27 countries and 450 million consumers, does not have a f ree trade accord with Australia.
Brussels said it is preparing for the worst after publishing contingency proposals for a no- deal divorce.
The EU Commission unveiled plans for a complete break and proposed an amnesty on new air travel and road haulage rules for si x months after January 1.
And it called for a ceasefire in the fisheries wars between the EU and UK for 12 months.
Sunday has been set as a last ditch deadline for negotiators to sign off on a trade deal but the mood music in Brussels was not good as the EU Council meeting got under way last night.
Th e f ai l ure t o re a c h a n agreement will hurt economies across Europe and the UK but there’s no doubt it will be worst for Ireland among all EU members.
The UK is our n e a r e s t n e i g h - bour, we are an island nation and we are the only EU country to share a land border with the UK.
However, Taoiseach Micheal Martin believes “97% of the deal i s agreed” and it would be a shame if it were all to fall apart over the remaining 3%.
He was speaking before a meeting of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels last night.
Mr Martin said: “Dialogue is the key and both teams have given themselves a deadline until Sunday and I think the key to unlocking this i s to stand back and look at the overall picture here.
“I mean, 97% of this is agreed. Are we saying that we’re going to lose out on a deal because of the 3%, notwithstanding the significance of the issue?
“But the bottom line is, a hell of a lot of work is being done, a lot of agreement has been reached on quite a lot of this.
“And so, in my view, one final effort is required here and there will obviously be a need for compromise at the end of the day.” But Europ ean Af f ai r s Minister Thomas Byrne warned there are still major differences between the sides.
He said: “There’s no doubt a no- deal would be damaging to Britain and no doubt that’s going through his [ Boris Johnson’s] mind at the moment.
“This i s a hard Brexit no matter what happens.”
The Tanaiste added Ireland’s special Brexit deal with Britain on the border is still intact.
Leo Varadkar said: “It [ the Protocol] has now proven to be bull etproof and al l t hat was promised, no hard border between North and S outh , Ireland and Britain staying in the Common Travel area, all of that has been done and is being honoured.”
President Michael D Higgins has signed the Brexit Omnibus Bill 2020 i nto l aw. This will m a k e s u r e t h e c o r r e c t l egislation i s i n place when the UK formally exits the EU.