Micheál Martin
Question:198. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he met Mr. Michel Barnier when he attended the EU Council meeting in October 2018. [43490/18]
View answerTuesday, 23 October 2018
Questions (198)
Written answers
I met with Michel Barnier on 16 October, ahead of the October General Affairs Council meeting that same day. We discussed developments in the ongoing negotiations between the EU and UK on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.
We also had a constructive exchange on the issue of fundamental rights and EU citizens’ rights in Northern Ireland, following from what was agreed in the Joint report from the negotiators of the European Union and the United Kingdom Government of 8 December 2017.
Mr Barnier later briefed EU27 Member States at the GAC Article 50, and EU leaders at the European Council Summit (Art. 50) on 17 October, on the negotiations.
Mr Barnier reported that, despite the intensive efforts of both sets of negotiators, it was not possible to make decisive progress ahead of the October European Council. There remains substantial work to be done, in particular in relation to the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, he felt overall that a deal could be done in the coming weeks.
Regarding the backstop, Mr Barnier is well aware, and has been strongly supportive, of our position that a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland must be avoided under any circumstances. As the Taoiseach made clear at Council, the backstop is about peace in Ireland and the EU has a shared responsibility to protect this. Mr Barnier has been flexible and imaginative in seeking to find ways to address and de-dramatise this issue, and Ireland strongly supports his approach.
A legally operable ‘backstop’ which avoids a hard border, and protects the integrity of the single market, is essential for agreeing the Withdrawal Agreement, so as to provide the certainty that no matter what the outcome of the negotiations on the future relationship, there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland. As agreed last March, it must be in place unless and until another solution is found. This was clearly reaffirmed by all colleagues at the GAC, and subsequently at the European Council meeting on 17 October.
We are now in the end game of these negotiations, and time is short. We need to engage intensively over the coming weeks to make sure that we can successfully complete negotiations and agree a deal.