The Tánaiste has played down hopes that a backstop solution on the Irish border will be agreed at next week’s European Summit of EU leaders.
Speaking as he announced a €2bn fund to prepare the economy for a ‘no deal’ scenario Minister Simon Coveney said talks were at a “very crucial point” but warned that that they are “far from complete.”
He said it is now unlikely that new British proposals on the backstop will be published before next week, admitting that an extra summit in November will “probably be needed” to reach a deal.
EU negotiators have been expecting fresh UK proposals on the backstop since the UK Prime Minister Theresa May promised to bring them forward last month.
However, reports in the UK suggest Downing Street has now pulled back on those plans.
Tánaiste, Simon Coveney “EU & UK are negotiating intensively with the aim of achieving verifiable progress before the October European Council...a full Withdrawal Agreement can be agreed, including a backstop to guarantee no return of any hard border. #Budget19 @BrexitReadyIRL pic.twitter.com/95kRJK6R7K
— MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) October 9, 2018
The UK Government has reportedly returned to proposals it put forward in June, which would see it remaining within the EU customs union for limited period after the end of the transition period.
The EU is unlikely to accept any time-limited backstop, as leaders have consistently warned that it must prevent a return to a hard border in all circumstances, regardless of what happens in Brexit talks.
Meanwhile, following a meeting with the chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, DUP leader Arlene Foster again warned that her party would not support any new regulatory differences between Northern Ireland and Britain.
“I am the leader of the Democratic Unionist party,” she said. “The clue is in the title.”
“I am a unionist, I believe in the union of the United Kingdom, all four elements of the United Kingdom.
“We do not want Northern Ireland going off in a different direction from the rest of the UK.”
Mrs May’s minority Government requires the support of the DUP to remain in power.
Continuing discussions with Northern Irish political leaders today: @DUPleader, @DianeDoddsMEP & @RobinSwannUUP, @JNicholsonMEP. Working hard to explain and de-dramatise the backstop #Brexit pic.twitter.com/JLW2oQNYzG
— Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) October 9, 2018
Mr Barnier said he was working hard to “explain and de-dramatise the backstop,” noting that the EUs plans pose no threat to the constitution integrity of the UK.
Meanwhile, under pressure from the DUP in the House of Commons the UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said his government would "not do anything which would be a threat to the economic or constitutional integrity of the UK."
He refused to rule out new regulatory checks between Britain and Northern Ireland – but noted that such a plan would be subject to the approval of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, which are both not functioning.
