EU support for Ireland on border ‘solid’
The support of all EU leaders for Ireland on a frictionless border Brexit deal is “solid”, insists Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
While he warned that agreement on a withdrawal deal for Britain is needed in principle in the next six weeks, Mr Varadkar conceded that Ireland is open to compromises.
He reiterated that a guarantee of no border on the island of Ireland is a “red line” and would not be conceded, as the clock ticks for the EU and Britain to reach agreement.
His comments follow an EU27 summit on Brexit in Salzburg, as well as a bilateral meeting between Mr Varadkar and his British counterpart Theresa May over the deadlock.
Ms May was forced to deny that her Chequers plan for Brexit, which proposes that the UK share a common rulebook for goods and services, was dead yesterday, after EU leaders and European Council president Donald Tusk said they were not workable.
Mr Varadkar said the plan was never acceptable.
There are difficulties. It proposes to divide the single market, to have one of the four freedoms but not the other three and I think anyone could understand why that [plan] wouldn’t be acceptable to the European Union. And that there would be two different customs schedules, which we just don’t think is workable. We wouldn’t be honest if we were to say we could accept the Chequers proposal lock, stock, and barrel.
The comments from EU figures will isolate Ms May and could make a compromise difficult with just weeks to go before another leaders’ summit in October.
Mr Varadkar said he wants agreement in principle by then on Britain’s withdrawal, including on a protocol to prevent a border.
“What I would like to happen is to have the deal agreed in principle in October, so that we can finalise it and formalise it at a special EU summit in November. Time is running out. This agreement has to be ratified by the European Parliament and Westminster as well and the clock in ticking. Time is running out.”
Mr Varadkar, after meeting fellow leaders at the two-day summit in Austria, said support for Ireland is “solid”.
Once again, all of the EU leaders who spoke gave me their absolute support in standing behind Ireland, saying that an agreement that doesn’t work for Ireland doesn’t work for the EU,” he said.
Mr Varadkar signalled that Ireland and the EU’s position is unlikely to shift. “As well as that, a decision was made not to amend or change our guidelines, our negotiating mandate, in any way.”
He said there is scope for compromise ahead but not on the protocol for a frictionless border, which is a “red line” issue. Mr Varadkar said he would like to see Ms May’s alternative proposals to overcome the border problem as soon as possible.
However, the Taoiseach is still confident of a deal being reached between the EU and Britain.
“I think we are going to get a deal, an accidental no deal has always been a possibility. But I think we can achieve it.”
