Joan Burton
Ceist:8. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his most recent meeting with the EU Brexit negotiator, Mr. Michel Barnier. [44870/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 16 November 2017
Ceisteanna (8)
Freagraí scríofa
I met with the EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Luxembourg in advance of the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 17 October. This was our third meeting since my appointment. It was a constructive meeting at which we discussed the progress of negotiations to date. I welcomed the progress that has been made in the areas of citizens’ rights and the Irish-specific issues. However, it was clear that there are still many issues outstanding, not least on the issue of the financial settlement.
In all of my meetings with Mr Barnier to date, I have laid particular emphasis on Ireland’s objective of protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the peace process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. I have strongly emphasised the need for an imaginative and flexible political solution. In so doing, I have been equally clear that we will only pursue solutions that are compatible with our aim of protecting the integrity of the Single Market and the Customs Union and Ireland’s place in them. I conveyed this position again on 17 October, recognising that these priorities are reflected in the Commission Task Force’s Guiding Principles paper of 7 September on Ireland and Northern Ireland. I thanked Mr Barnier and his team for their hard work and the progress made on the Irish-specific issues, most notably with regard to the Common Travel Area. We agreed that there is still a lot of work required on protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the peace process, including sustaining North South cooperation and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. We are agreed that the Task Force’s Guiding Principles on Ireland and Northern Ireland should form the basis of the firm political assurances and tangible commitments required from the UK in phase 1 future and the ultimate solutions on the Irish specific issues as part of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.
We also discussed the issue of sufficient progress ahead of the October European Council. Mr Barnier informed me at that time that although progress had been made in the previous rounds of negotiations, he was not in a position to recommend to the European Council that sufficient progress had been made on all of the withdrawal issues to enable the negotiations to move to phase two. While it had been hoped that the UK’s position would be more advanced by October, Mr Barnier’s position and the subsequent decision by the European Council not to advance to phase two, was not unexpected.
I am hopeful that the sufficient progress required can be made in the negotiations in the coming weeks so that a decision can be taken by the European Council in December that discussions with the UK on future relationship issues, including on transitional arrangements, can begin.
Questions Nos. 9 to 12, inclusive, answered orally.