Micheál Martin
Question:104. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has discussed the new customs partnership-type deal with his British or other EU counterparts. [6819/18]
View answerTuesday, 13 February 2018
Questions (104, 105, 107)
Micheál Martin
Question:105. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he or his officials have spoken to Mr. Michel Barnier regarding a new customs partnership proposal for the UK. [6820/18]
View answerMicheál Martin
Question:107. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has spoken with his British counterparts about concerns he or his Department officials may have about Mr. Michel Barnier's comments on 5 February 2018 when he said in London to Prime Minister May that trade barriers will be unavoidable if the UK continues to choose to leave the customs union; and if they discussed a customs partnership. [6903/18]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 104, 105 and 107 together.
Future EU-UK customs arrangements will be addressed within the context of discussions on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. It is hoped these can start in the spring, depending on the provision by the UK of greater clarity on its objectives, including in regard to customs.
In this regard, the EU has intensified its preparatory work with a view to the adoption by the European Council in March of additional Guidelines on the framework for the future EU-UK relationship.
I have been consistently clear that the optimal outcome would be for the UK to, in effect, remain in the Single Market and Customs Union. This is ultimately a decision for the UK and its current position is that it wishes to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union. The EU remains open to all options, but its approach will be calibrated, in line with the principles agreed by the European Council, in response to what the British are putting on or taking off the table. This is a position that Michel Barnier has expressed on a number of occasions, including on 5 February.
In the 8 December Joint Report from the EU and UK negotiators on progress in phase one of the Brexit negotiations, the UK undertook that, in the event that it is not possible to resolve the border issue as part of a wider EU-UK future relationship agreement, or through specific solutions proposed by the British Government, it will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Customs Union and Single Market which support North South cooperation, the all-island economy and protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts. Ireland and the Commission are agreed on the need for the legally binding Withdrawal Agreement under Article 50 TEU to include satisfactory arrangements achieving this objective.
I and my officials continue to set forward Ireland’s position on these issues at EU level through the General Affairs Council (Art. 50) and the relevant preparatory bodies as well as through bilateral contacts with Michel Barnier and the EU Taskforce and EU27 counterparts. This includes my meeting this morning with Foreign Minister Linas Linkevièius of Lithuania.
While stressing that Ireland is a member of the EU27 and that the issues involved can only be substantively negotiated with the European Commission, Brexit also naturally arises during the frequent bilateral contacts which I have with UK Ministers, including in the last fortnight with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Minister Alan Duncan and Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington. I most recently met Mr Lidington on Friday last, 9 February, the day when the most recent EU-UK negotiating round finished. In addition to making clear the Government’s position on island of Ireland issues, I strongly impressed upon him the need for the UK to come forward with more concrete proposals, including on a customs partnership if that is what they choose to seek.