Britain and the EU need to reach an agreement on the key points of the Brexit. Northern Ireland border issue by June, Michel Barnier has said.
The EU’s chief negotiator was speaking at a conference in the Irish border town of Dundalk, where he addressed representatives from across Irish civil society.
British negotiators are apparently working to a different timetable to the European Commission, with David Davis having said he wants the issue resolved by October.
We need to agree rapidly by June the scope of alignment, what I call the safety controls that are … to respect the single market, he said
He added: We want to succeed with the UK, not against the UK. Together with the Irish government we are looking for practical solutions.
Mr Barnier is visiting the Republic of Ireland for meetings, where he will also cross the border to Newry in Country Down for discussions about Brexit with business leaders there.
His comments come after DUP leader Arlene Foster accused the chief negotiator of not understanding the unionist position on the border. In an interview with the BBC the right-wing politician said Mr Barnier hasn’t really responded to unionist concerns.
It does not work constitutionally, politically and it certainly does not work from an economic perspective.
We’ve tried to get him to understand the unionist position for the people of Northern Ireland but he hasn’t really responded and I’m disappointed about that. I don’t think he does understand the wider unionist culture of Northern Ireland.
Ahead of the visit, a spokesperson for the European Commission said: Mr Barnier has already met unionist and nationalist politicians in both Brussels and Strasbourg.
But the particular focus of this trip will be to meet business stakeholders from across Northern Ireland, including cross-border groups and companies in the border areas of Newry/Dundalk and Derry-Londonderry/Letterkenny and rural representatives in Dungannon.
Mr Barnier’s comments come after Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit coordinator, said a deal in October on Northern Ireland would be late because other issues had to be agreed between June and October. He too suggested the June council for finalising the Northern Ireland aspect of the deal.
Brussels has consistently said that the whole withdrawal agreement, including citizens rights, the financial settlement, transition period, and Northern Ireland border needs to be agreed by the October meeting of the European Council in order to give time for the deal to be scrutinised and approved by bodies such as the European parliament.
The council, a quarterly Brussels summit attended by the 28 EU heads of state and government, generally has to sign off major decisions made by the European Union.
With Britain set to fall out of the EU on 29 March 2019, the only real opportunity for the council to approve any deal after October would be a further summit in December. The next summit is scheduled for 21 March 2019, a date both sides want to avoid dragging talks out until.
Speaking on his own visit to Northern Ireland earlier this month, David Davis said: As we leave the EU it’s essential both the UK and EU do what it takes to keep the border, which I saw this morning, free from physical infrastructure.
We are determined to get this agreed by October. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has previously said he would prefer a deal to be done properly by October than done badly in June.