Yahoo Finance May urged to rethink 'red lines' to save Brexit deal
Theresa May has been urged to rethink her Brexit red lines in order to avoid a cliff edge exit from the EU.
EU chief negotiator Michael Barnier said today that there is a “real risk” Brexit talks will collapse unless a solution to the Irish border issue is found in the coming months.
And Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar named the Prime Minister’s red lines on leaving the customs union and single market as the “main barrier” to progress.
The pair made their comments at a joint press conference at the start of Mr Barnier’s third visit to Ireland since the start of Brexit negotiations.
Mr Barnier told reporters there must be an agreement on how to avoid a hard border in Ireland before the whole Brexit deal – including the 21-month transition period – can be signed-off in October.
“Until we reach this agreement there is a risk, a real risk.”
Mr Barnier said he was ready to work on “any new proposal” from the UK government on how to avoid a hard border in Ireland if the UK leaves the customs union as planned by the UK government.
Theresa May has already proposed two solutions – a “customs arrangement” that would see the UK collect duties on the EU’s behalf and a so-called ‘cyber border.’
Both were rejected as unworkable by the EU in the last round of negotiations and the UK was “sent back to the drawing board,” Irish EU Commissioner Phil Hogan said last week.
An agreement on the Irish border is supposed to be reached at June’s EU Council, although Mr Barnier indicated today he would allow talks to go on until October if needed.
Without an agreement, Northern Ireland could effectively remain inside the EU’s customs union as part of a ‘backstop’ solution included in the first drafts of the Brexit deal.
Mr Varadkar said he wanted to avoid the ‘backstop’ solution by agreeing a “very close relationship” between the EU and UK that would render customs checks unnecessary.
But he said: “We recognise that in order for that to be achieved the United Kingdom’s approach to negotiations will need to change in some way.”
The Taioseach specified later that the “main barrier” to achieving the desired future relationship are “the UK’s own red lines” on leaving the customs union and single market.
“If those lines soften, the EU’s position will evolve as well,” he said.
His deputy, Simon Coveney, spoke out in even stronger terms about Mrs May’s red lines.
Mr Coveney said: “The British government has red lines all over the place and expects the EU to accommodate them. We have red lines, so does the EU, but nobody seems to focus on that.
“It is not OK for the British government to rule out a whole series of options and then pretend that somebody, somewhere is going to find a solution to find a way forward. The next move is Britain’s in the negotiations.”
Mr Barnier insisted in his speech that the ‘backstop’ was not a negotiation tactic meant to force the UK in changing its red lines but a necessary safeguard to avoid a hard border in Ireland in the worst case scenario.
He said: “I even read that the EU is trying to get the UK to change its red lines – and stay in the Single Market and/or a customs union. Or even to reverse Brexit/
“This is wrong. The backstop is not there to changethe UK’s red lines. It is there because of the UK’s red lines.
“The UK’s decision to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union creates a risk that the hard border will return. This is why it is necessary to have a self-standing backstop solution. To be clear, once again the backstop was drafted in full respect of the UK’s red lines.”
