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Nervousness descends in Dublin over Irish Sea border Backstop deal has no end date, Irish PM hints
(about 3 hours later)
The Irish government has said it does not want to see any “hardening” of the border in the Irish Sea, ahead of a crunch cabinet meeting in Dublin on Brexit on Wednesday morning. The withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU does not include Brexiter demands for an expiry date or an option for the UK to unilaterally exit the arrangement, the Irish prime minister has strongly hinted.
The prime minister, Leo Varadkar, and his deputy, Simon Coveney, had a two-hour teleconference call with Ireland’s representative in Brussels last night following leaks that the deal had been agreed. After being briefed overnight on the detail of the withdrawal agreement, Leo Varadkar suggested Theresa May did not get the concessions she wanted. He did not go into detail, telling the Irish parliament he did not want to “upend” things for her before a crunch cabinet meeting but he promised opposition MPs in the Dáil that the backstop “can’t have an expiry date and it can’t be possible for anyone side to withdraw from it unilaterally”.
However, there were indications that they had not yet seen the 500-page draft withdrawal agreement but were merely apprised of the detail. Varadkar also confirmed that an emergency EU summit had been pencilled in for 25 November if Theresa May’s Brexit deal emerges unscathed from the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Varadkar has called his ministers to a specially convened cabinet meeting at 9.30 this morning with a possible statement later today. It was also revealed that he would brief the Northern Ireland non-unionist parties, the SDLP and the Alliance, on the withdrawal agreement, even though the region is part of the UK jurisdiction. At the same time he reached out to unionists, saying they would be protected by the deal.
His party’s Brexit spokesman in the senate, Neale Richmond, said the priority was to ensure the backstop provision to guarantee the Irish border remains open “never comes into play”. “I know for the unionist community in Northern Ireland this is quite a difficult time, many of them may be feeling vulnerable, many of them might be feeling isolated and many of them may be quite worried about what may be agreed in the coming days,” he told the Dáil.
Richmond told RTE’s Morning Ireland that there was no desire to humiliate the UK as the DUP’s Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson, has suggested following the Brexit leaks on Tuesday. “I want to say to them the GFA [Good Friday agreement] will be protected, and that includes a recognition of that we respect the territory of the United Kingdom and that we respect the principle of consent, that there can be no change to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland unless a majority of Northern Ireland say so and we are very happy to have that written into any agreement,”
“The priority will always be that in the future declaration framework that in the next transition period we can negotiate that deep and meaningful trade customs and regulatory arrangement between the EU and the UK as a whole, that will ensure not only is there no hard border on the island of Ireland but there is no hardening of the border down the Irish Sea, that’s something the government is keen to achieve and I think can achieve,” Richmond said. Earlier, the senator Neale Richmond of the governing Fine Gael party said the government did not want to see any “hardening” of the border in the Irish Sea. He told RTE’s Morning Ireland there was no desire to humiliate the UK as the DUP’s Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson, has suggested after the Brexit leaks on Tuesday.
“There is no ambition to humiliate anyone. Whatever the deal will be it won’t be a good deal, because there simply is no such thing as a good deal.” “The priority will always be that in the future declaration framework, that in the next transition period, we can negotiate that deep and meaningful trade customs and regulatory arrangement between the EU and the UK as a whole, that will ensure not only that there is no hard border on the island of Ireland but there is no hardening of the border down the Irish Sea. That’s something the government is keen to achieve and I think can achieve,” Richmond said.
Former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern told RTE the Brexit agreement is a “good deal” for Ireland but a “hard sell” for Theresa May. “There is no ambition to humiliate anyone. Whatever the deal will be, it won’t be a good deal, because there simply is no such thing as a good deal.”
But he said the UK-wide customs arrangement instead of a discrete backstop for the Irish border was a “victory” for her as it was a “big concession” from the EU. The former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern told RTE the Brexit agreement was a good deal for Ireland but a “hard sell” for May. But he said the UK-wide customs arrangement, instead of a discrete backstop for the Irish border, was a victory for her because it was a “big concession” from the EU.
A nervousness has descended in Dublin over the cabinet meeting in Westminster with a virtual media blackout on the subject of Brexit on Wednesday morning. Ireland has said Brexit is the most damaging event in its history, with the lucrative £56.5bn (€65bn) a year trade with the UK at risk if there are barriers in the form of tariffs or border checks.
Ireland has said that Brexit is the most damaging event in its history with the lucrative £56.5bn (€65bn) a year trade with the UK at risk if there are barriers in the form of tariffs or border checks. It has been widely reported that there is just one backstop to ensure the Irish border remains open in the withdrawal agreement. The backstop, which is envisaged as an insurance policy in the event of no deal, however, is deeply embedded within the terms of the transition period with a temporary UK-wide customs arrangement.
Sources said the government wants to stay “below the radar” and see how Theresa May’s cabinet meeting plays out and whether she will survive without any resignations.
It has been widely reported that there is just one “backstop” to ensure the Irish border remains open in the withdrawal agreement.
A backstop is required to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland if a comprehensive free trade deal cannot be signed before the end of 2020. Theresa May has proposed to the EU that the whole of the UK would remain in the customs union after Brexit, but Brussels has said it needs more time to evaluate the proposal.A backstop is required to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland if a comprehensive free trade deal cannot be signed before the end of 2020. Theresa May has proposed to the EU that the whole of the UK would remain in the customs union after Brexit, but Brussels has said it needs more time to evaluate the proposal.
As a result, the EU insists on having its own backstop - the backstop to the backstop - which would mean Northern Ireland would remain in the single market and customs union in the absence of a free trade deal, prompting fierce objections from Conservative hard Brexiters and the DUP, which props up her government.As a result, the EU insists on having its own backstop - the backstop to the backstop - which would mean Northern Ireland would remain in the single market and customs union in the absence of a free trade deal, prompting fierce objections from Conservative hard Brexiters and the DUP, which props up her government.
That prompted May to propose a country-wide alternative in which the whole of the UK would remain in parts of the customs union after Brexit.That prompted May to propose a country-wide alternative in which the whole of the UK would remain in parts of the customs union after Brexit.
“The EU still requires a ‘backstop to the backstop’ – effectively an insurance policy for the insurance policy. And they want this to be the Northern Ireland-only solution that they had previously proposed,” May told MPs.“The EU still requires a ‘backstop to the backstop’ – effectively an insurance policy for the insurance policy. And they want this to be the Northern Ireland-only solution that they had previously proposed,” May told MPs.
Raising the stakes, the prime minister said the EU’s insistence amounted to a threat to the constitution of the UK: “We have been clear that we cannot agree to anything that threatens the integrity of our United Kingdom,” she added.Raising the stakes, the prime minister said the EU’s insistence amounted to a threat to the constitution of the UK: “We have been clear that we cannot agree to anything that threatens the integrity of our United Kingdom,” she added.
The backstop, which is envisaged as an insurance policy in the event of no deal, however is deeply embedded with the terms of the transition period with a temporary UK-wide customs arrangement. There are expected to be specific provisions for Northern Ireland that involve closer regulatory alignment to the single market with a review mechanism. It is believed the date of the first review would be in July 2020.
There are expected to be specific provisions for Northern Ireland which involve closer regulatory alignment to the single market with a review mechanism. This would enable the two sides to agree one of three things. The first would be the implementation of a new regime in January 2021, at the end of the transition period. This would be predicated on a final deal on the future trade and security relationship being complete or nearing completion by then, which many think is highly unlikely.
It is believed the first review date would be in July 2020. The second option would be to agree a short extension to the transition period to enable negotiations to continue. May has suggested an extension of just three months may be needed.
This would enable the two sides to agree one of three things.
The first would be the implementation of a new regime un January 2021 at the end of the transition period. This would be predicated on a final deal on the future trade and security relationship being complete or near completion by then, which many think is highly unlikely.
The second option would be to agree a short extension to the transition period to enable negotiations to continue. Theresa May has suggested an extension of just three months may be needed.
The third option would be the backstop in the event of no deal and no extension in the transition period. This would mean the UK remaining in the customs union until further notice with deeper provisions for Northern Ireland in relation to single market regulations.The third option would be the backstop in the event of no deal and no extension in the transition period. This would mean the UK remaining in the customs union until further notice with deeper provisions for Northern Ireland in relation to single market regulations.
Richmond repeatedly said it was important to project the discussion beyond the withdrawal agreement as the long-term “priority” for Ireland was a future relationship with the UK. Richmond repeatedly said it was important to project the discussion beyond the withdrawal agreement because the long-term “priority” for Ireland was a future relationship with the UK.
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