I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 81, 96, 152 and 153 together.
The publication of the UK White Paper on 12 July was welcome as a step forward in the negotiating process, though much work remains to see if its proposals can form the basis for meaningful progress towards agreement on the future EU-UK relationship. Discussions are now under way between the UK and EU negotiators. The Guidelines adopted by the European Council in March continue to govern the EU’s approach.
My Department, in co-ordination with other Departments, is now examining the detail of the White Paper. It is also engaging with the EU Taskforce and officials in other Member States. The General Affairs Council in Brussels on 20 July, which I attended together with Minister of State Helen McEntee, had a first exchange of views on the White Paper. I also discussed the White Paper, as well as the ongoing negotiations on the draft Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, with Michel Barnier, whom I met before the meeting of the General Affairs Council.
In relation to the Bills on Trade and Customs currently under discussion in the UK parliament, I do not propose to comment on draft legislation that has not yet completed all its stages in Westminster. We have a firm commitment from the Prime Minister – if no other solution is agreed – to full alignment with the relevant rules of the Single Market and Customs Union to deliver on her guarantee of avoiding a hard border. In March, she also agreed to having a legally operative ‘backstop’ in the Withdrawal Agreement.
The EU and Ireland will hold the UK to these commitments. As the European Council made very clear last month, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and there can be no Withdrawal Agreement, and therefore no transition, without an agreement on the backstop. Ministers reiterated this in Brussels on 20 July and agreed that renewed efforts are needed to conclude, as soon as possible, all outstanding issues in the Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop. The EU27 also reaffirmed their solidarity and support for Ireland.
Ireland wants the closest possible relationship between the EU and the UK. While our preference is still for an overall EU-UK relationship which would resolve all issues, it remains essential that a backstop is agreed which provides certainty that in any circumstances, and no matter what the outcome of the negotiations on the EU-UK future relationship, a hard border will be avoided. We must have certainty in all scenarios on the commitments made in Ireland and Northern Ireland.