Barnier says rapid EU-UK progress needed on Irish border

[webfact]

Barnier says rapid EU-UK progress needed on Irish border

By Padraic Halpin

 

Michel Barnier, the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, arrives at an all All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit in Dundalk, Ireland, April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

 

DUNDALK, Ireland (Reuters) - The EU's Brexit negotiator expressed confidence on Monday that a solution for the Irish border can be achieved if rapid progress is made by June, but said a real risk remained of Britain leaving the bloc without an overall deal.

 

Northern Ireland will be Britain's only land frontier with the European Union after Brexit. Both sides say they are committed to keeping the border with the Irish Republic open, but finding a practical solution has proved elusive so far.

 

The EU and Dublin insist the Brexit treaty must lock in a backstop arrangement in case a future trade pact does not remove the need for border controls. London signed up for this last month but disagrees with the EU's means of achieving it..

 

"We need to ... agree rapidly by June on the scope of all island customs and regulations - the safety and controls that we need to respect the single market," negotiator Michel Barnier said, referring to an EU leaders' meeting in June that he called a "stepping stone" towards reaching a full agreement in October.

 

"I am confident that together with unity of the EU27 and a constructive attitude on both sides, we will be able to agree the right solution," he told a news conference in the Irish border town of Dundalk. However, he added: "There is a real risk and we have to be prepared for any options, including no deal."

 

Under the EU proposal, if all other attempts to avoid a hard border fail, Northern Ireland would form a "common regulatory area" with Ireland and 26 other EU states, in effect keeping the British province in a customs union with the EU.

 

Britain, which is still debating its own Brexit strategy, says an EU-UK free-trade deal to be sealed by 2021 can solve the border issue, and Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected the EU proposal as a threat to the constitutional integrity of the UK.

 

"The backstop we put in the draft treaty is not there to change the UK red lines, it is there because of the UK red lines," Barnier said.

 

"We are ready to work with any new proposal from the UK on the condition there will be no border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and the condition that the UK respects the integrity of the single market and customs union."

 

Barnier was speaking at a Brexit conference organised by the Irish government alongside Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.

 

Coveney said Dublin and Brussels agreed that they would not accept a situation in which everything is agreed except the Irish border, "where there is a pressure created to kick it on to the next stage".

 

Barnier will travel across the border into Northern Ireland later on Monday.

 

(Additional reporting by Conor Humphries in Dublin; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and David Stamp)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-01

[Emster23]

Easiest solution to border problem is to return N Ireland to be part of rest of the country. Current situation is like if Brits had kept Bengal after India got independence. 

[mfd101]

7 minutes ago, Emster23 said:

Current situation is like if Brits had kept Bengal after India got independence. 

But unfortunately it turned into Bangladesh ...

[Proboscis]

2 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Easiest solution to border problem is to return N Ireland to be part of rest of the country. Current situation is like if Brits had kept Bengal after India got independence. 

If you don't mind, we (the majority of citizens of the Republic) don't want it. We cannot afford it and we don't want hundreds of thousands of loyalists doing everything to disrupt everything. The UK created the situation in Northern Ireland and it is theirs to keep.

 

And if you don't believe me, ask the next person from the Irish Republic you meet, "Do you want a united Ireland?" S/He may say "Yes." Then ask that person, "Are you prepared to pay an extra 20% in taxes that it will cost you to have a united Ireland?" The answer will be as expected a resounded "No.!"

[sawadee1947]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

finding a practical solution has proved elusive so far.

maybe a curtain is suitable. Thai silk is on offer.

[mfd101]

2 hours ago, Proboscis said:

And if you don't believe me, ask the next person from the Irish Republic you meet, "Do you want a united Ireland?" S/He may say "Yes." Then ask that person, "Are you prepared to pay an extra 20% in taxes that it will cost you to have a united Ireland?" The answer will be as expected a resounded "No.!"

Yes but everyone takes that approach to everything regarding government: We want MORE services! How much are you willing to pay for them? NOTHING!

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Easiest solution to border problem is to return N Ireland to be part of rest of the country. Current situation is like if Brits had kept Bengal after India got independence. 

 

Only that's not what the majority of the people who live in Northern Ireland want.

 

Perhaps the solution should be for the Eire to rejoin the UK?

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, Proboscis said:

If you don't mind, we (the majority of citizens of the Republic) don't want it. We cannot afford it and we don't want hundreds of thousands of loyalists doing everything to disrupt everything. The UK created the situation in Northern Ireland and it is theirs to keep.

 

And if you don't believe me, ask the next person from the Irish Republic you meet, "Do you want a united Ireland?" S/He may say "Yes." Then ask that person, "Are you prepared to pay an extra 20% in taxes that it will cost you to have a united Ireland?" The answer will be as expected a resounded "No.!"

 

Don't worry, the majority of the citizens of Northern Ireland don't want to be part of the republic either.

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Don't worry, the majority of the citizens of Northern Ireland don't want to be part of the republic either.

Not yet.

[Baerboxer]

1 minute ago, bristolboy said:

Not yet.

 

Amazing how many people think they can predict the future.

 

Just like May though she'd increase her majority, wee Nicola thought she's be el presidente and a "world leader", and old Hilary thought it was "in the bag" and a forgone conclusion.

 

Must be some flawed crystal balls about. Perhaps the Aussies have been tampering with them!

[khunken]

2 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Only that's not what the majority of the people who live in Northern Ireland want.

 

Perhaps the solution should be for the Eire to rejoin the UK?

Rather the opposite of what you wrote about the Catalans in Spain.

You appear to advocate all Spaniards deciding on the future of Catalonia but not the citizens of Ireland deciding on the future of NI. Hypocrisy is what that's called.