May’s Brexit talk can make progress
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit speech can form the basis for progress, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe claimed yesterday.
But he said whether EU talks would encompass its future trading relationship with the UK depended on how other negotiations were handled. The 27 Euro- Kirk was in Dunkirk, above, and WW1 film pean Union leaders are due to decide on whether the talks have gone far enough at a summit in Brussels next month.
The Irish budget will be published before then and Mr Donohoe said it would set out a four-year plan for funds for transport, health and housing.
But he said current spending and reform of income tax would continue to be decided on an annual basis. Mrs May proposed a two-year transition period after the UK leaves the EU in 2019 during her keynote in Florence on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned her greater clarity was needed over Britain’s negotiating position if she wants to break the deadlock.
Welcoming her “willingness” to move forward, he said more progress was needed on the rights of EU citizens in Britain and the border with Ireland as well as the so-called “divorce settlement”.
Although her speech was described as “constructive” by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, the two-year transition plan was criticised by hardline Brexiters for lasting too long.