The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 1 September 2019 *** 7
We will only start work on
alternative arrangements if
the current deal is ratified
M
ore than three years ago, the
United Kingdom voted to leave
the European Union. Shortly
afterwards, the then prime minister,
Theresa May, said that this meant that
the UK would leave the EU’s single
market and customs union.
The current Prime Minister, Boris
Johnson, has confirmed this position.
The consequences of these decisions
are clear: they create barriers to trade
between the EU and the UK that do not
exist today.
After two years of painstaking talks,
the EU and the UK reached an
agreement on operational solutions for
a whole range of areas where the UK’s
withdrawal creates uncertainty: first,
how do we make sure that UK and EU
citizens continue to enjoy their
existing rights, with strong
enforcement mechanisms and lifelong
guarantees?
What happens to researchers or
organisations in the UK that receive
EU funding? What should we do after
Brexit with the extradition of criminals
that began under EU law? How should
we make sure that Cypriots living in
the UK sovereign base areas continue
to enjoy their rights under EU law?
It is now nine months since the 27
EU governments reached an
agreement with the UK on the terms of
an orderly withdrawal and on the
framework for the future relationship.
So far, the House of Commons has
failed to approve the agreed package.
Some MPs voted against it because
they do not want Brexit at all, others
because they would prefer a no-deal
outcome. Some MPs said “nay”
because they want a much closer
economic relationship with the EU,
others because they want a more
distant future relationship and less
stringent conditions on fair
competition between the EU and the
UK – for instance, on environmental
laws and labour rights. As the EU’snegotiator, I know very well how
divided the UK still is on what future it
wants with the EU.
That is why the Political Declaration
points to a free-trade agreement as a
baseline and leaves open the
possibility of a closer relationship with
the EU should the UK’s red lines
evolve. In all circumstances, however,
the relationship will consist of an
appropriate balance of rights and
obligations.
In the midst of the ongoing political
debate in Westminster, I think it is
worthwhile to point out there remain
many misrepresentations about the
solution we have found to avoid a hard
border on the island of Ireland.
The backstop is all about managing
the unique risks that Brexit creates in
Northern Ireland, a fact that Mr
Johnson recognises in his recent letter
to President Donald Tusk.
It is not about changing the
constitutional status of Northern
Ireland. That is none of the EU’s
business, as it is the Good Friday
Agreement – an agreement between
the British and Irish governments and
political parties in Northern Ireland –
that settles how Northern Ireland
should be governed.
The backstop fully respects the
carefully negotiated balance found in
that agreement between competing
political views and different identities
in Northern Ireland.
Its objective is simply to have an
insurance policy in place that
guarantees that the border between
Ireland and Northern Ireland remains
fully open, and that the status quo of
cross-border exchanges on the island
of Ireland is maintained. At the UK’s
request, we agreed to have a UK-wide
customs dimension to that backstop.
On the EU side, we had intense
discussions with EU member states on
the need to guarantee the integrity of
the EU’s single market, while keeping
that border fully open. In this sense,
the backstop is the maximum amount
of flexibility that the EU can offer to a
non-member state. Why? Because the
backstop provides Northern Ireland
with the economic benefits of the
single market for goods, which the EU
is exceptionally willing to offer due tothe unique circumstances on the
island of Ireland. I believe that the
people of Northern Ireland recognise
and appreciate this offer more than
Westminster does for now.
The new UK Government has asked
us to change what was agreed. The EU
had already committed itself to
working with the UK, during the
standstill transition period, on
alternative arrangements that achieve
the same objectives of the backstop.
We are ready to start this work
immediately upon ratification of the
Withdrawal Agreement, in parallel to
finally creating clarity on our future
relationship.
I am not optimistic about avoiding a
no-deal scenario but we should all
continue to work with determination.
The EU is ready to explore all avenues
that the UK Government may present
and that are compatible with the
Withdrawal Agreement. Uncertainty
has festered for far too long in the UK,
in particular in Northern Ireland, as
well as in Ireland and all other EU
countries, for that matter.
The Prime Minister has said there
will be no more extensions beyond the
end of October. Therefore, the UK has
now come to a moment of truth and it
must decide if it leaves the EU with or
without an agreement. If it chooses
the latter, it means that there will be
no transition period and no so-called
“mini-deals”, as the EU will only act to
protect its own interests.
In case of no deal, all the UK’s
financial and other obligations from its
past EU membership will continue to
exist, as well as obviously the
international obligations it has to
protect the Good Friday Agreement, in
all its dimensions.
The EU cannot prevent the UK from
choosing a no-deal scenario. I would
fail to understand the logic of that
choice though, as we would still need
to solve the same problems after
Oct 31. Many people in the UK
understand that and I would be
surprised if they succumb to the idea
that the EU is to blame for a difficult
political situation in the UK.Michel Barnier is the European
Commission’s chief negotiatorComment
By Michel Barnierent
Margot
JamesPhilip
HammondDavid
GaukeDavid
Lidington
Facing the axe:
Senior Tories could
be deselected for
failing to toe the
line over Brexit
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