Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
124. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the details of his engagement with the EU Brexit negotiating team and the UK Government with a view to ensuring regulatory alignment on agriculture matters post the UK leaving the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48119/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI, as well as officials from my Department, am in ongoing contact with representatives of EU Member States, the Commission Task Force under Michel Barnier, and the UK. We liaise very closely on agricultural issues with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and his officials.As regards the movement of animals and agricultural products between North and South, the backstop in the draft Withdrawal Agreement agreed on 14 November at negotiator level and endorsed by the British cabinet provides for the necessary regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the EU on those elements of the EU Single Market relevant to the avoidance of a hard border. They includes sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls, and rules on agricultural production and marketing.
With regard to the future EU-UK relationship, both the EU and the UK have identified cooperation in the area of agriculture and trade in agri-food products as important aspects of the future trading relationship. Ireland wants the closest possible relationship between the EU and the UK, including in the area of trade, and in particular as regards agriculture and trade in agri-foods. This will be a priority for us in negotiations on the future relationship. A draft political declaration of the future relationship, to be adopted at the extraordinary European Council Summit on 25 November, will form the basis for negotiations on a detailed legal agreement once the UK has left the EU on 29 March 2019.
