Yahoo Finance Irish leader welcomes revised Brexit deal, saying outcome is 'positive'
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday that the outcome of the last-ditch negotiations between the UK and European Union, which saw a revised Brexit deal agreed, were “positive.”
The documents agreed, he said, were “complementary” to the existing withdrawal agreement and the political declaration, and provide an “additional layer” of reassurance to the UK ahead of further votes in the House of Commons.
Both sides on Monday agreed on legally binding assurances that aim to assuage MPs that the UK cannot be trapped in the backstop indefinitely.
Though Varadkar said that the three documents did not reopen, alter or “undermine” the existing agreements, they represented a “fair compromise by all sides.”
In particular, he noted that they do not “call into question” the existing backstop in the agreement, which aims to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.
“We have insisted that the withdrawal agreement cannot be rewritten, and that the backstop agreement, while intended to be temporary, must continue to apply unless and until it can be replaced by alternative arrangements that can achieve the same objective.”
He said, however, that any “doubts or fears” that the UK could be “trapped” within the backstop “can now be put to bed.”
“The goal is not to trap the UK in the backstop,” Varadkar said.
Ireland and the EU, he said, had always been willing to offer “assurances of our good faith and intentions.” These documents are those assurances in legally binding form, Varadkar noted.
“Brexit has been a dark cloud over us for many months. We now need to see the withdrawal agreement ratified by Westminster and the European Parliament without further delay,” he said.
The Irish government held a special late-night cabinet meeting to discuss the proposals, when ministers were presented with the text of the assurances negotiated between the UK and EU.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday evening had already indicated that Varadkar approved of the backstop assurances.
Speaking at a press conference in Strasbourg with Theresa May, Juncker said that Varadkar “would be prepared to accept this solution in the interest of securing an overall deal.”
