EurActiv (30 April 2018)
European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned Britain Sunday (29 April) that “the time has now come to resolve the contradictions” over the Northern Irish border, ahead of a visit to the island.
Barnier, who will spend Monday and Tuesday on either side of the Irish divide, reiterated that the EU will not conclude an agreement with Britain until it details how there will be no post-Brexit return to a hard border.
“In case there is any doubt whatsoever about our commitment to this, let me be crystal clear: we will not conclude the withdrawal agreement with the UK unless we have such a solution included in the text,” he wrote in an article for Ireland’s Sunday Independent.
“We will not sign any agreement with the UK unless we — together with the Irish government — are satisfied with the solution found for Ireland.”
EU leaders will assess the thorny question of how to avoid border checks between British-ruled Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state, at a summit in June.
Britain is set to leave the bloc at the end of March 2019.
All sides have vowed to avoid the return of customs checks to the former flashpoint divide, but London has yet to offer solutions accepted by the Europeans.
It has not even signed up to the June deadline, with Brexit Secretary David Davis last week claiming it was an “artificial deadline” in ongoing negotiations.
Barnier called on Britain to give details now.
“It wants full regulatory autonomy and an independent trade policy, but at the same time it does not want a border on the island of Ireland,” he added.
“The time has now come to resolve the contradictions.
“Brexit created a specific problem in Ireland, so it is the UK’s responsibility to also come forward with workable solutions.”
The EU and Britain have agreed a “backstop” that Northern Ireland would remain part of the EU’s customs union in the absence of a final deal governing future trade.
But that is vehemently opposed by pro-Brexit politicians in Prime Minister Theresa May’s own Conservative Party and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party which props up her minority government.
No comments yet.
- DIVIDED KURDS FACE LOSSES IN IRAQ'S ELECTION Iraq 30.04.2018
- VIGIL FOR VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN TERRORISM, PROPOSAL FOR HISTORICAL COMMISSION DRAWS WASHINGTON INTEREST AND SUPPORT The Caucasus and Turkish-Armenian Relations 30.04.2018
- CATALAN SITUATION IS 'SURREAL', SAYS BARCELONA DEPUTY MAYOR Europe - EU 30.04.2018
- MARTYR DIPLOMATS The Caucasus and Turkish-Armenian Relations 30.04.2018
- MOST SWISS BACK PLAN FOR NEW TREATY WITH EU Europe - EU 30.04.2018
-
Türk-Ermeni İlişkileri Üzerine Ömer Engin Lütem Konferansları 2023 -
Türk-Ermeni İlişkileri Üzerine Ömer Engin Lütem Konferansları 2022 -
RADİKAL ERMENİ UNSURLARCA GERÇEKLEŞTİRİLEN MEZALİMLER VE VANDALİZM -
PATRIOTISM PERVERTED -
MEN ARE LIKE THAT -
BAKÜ-TİFLİS-CEYHAN BORU HATTININ YAŞANAN TARİHİ -
INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS ON THE EVENTS OF 1915 -
FAKE PHOTOS AND THE ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA -
ERMENİ PROPAGANDASI VE SAHTE RESİMLER -
Türk-Ermeni İlişkileri Üzerine Ömer Engin Lütem Konferansları 2021 -
A Letter From Japan - Strategically Mum: The Silence of the Armenians -
Japonya'dan Bir Mektup - Stratejik Suskunluk: Ermenilerin Sessizliği -
Türk-Ermeni Uyuşmazlığı Üzerine Ömer Engin Lütem Konferansları 2020 -
Anastas Mikoyan: Confessions of an Armenian Bolshevik -
Sovyet Sonrası Ukrayna’da Devlet, Toplum ve Siyaset - Değişen Dinamikler, Dönüşen Kimlikler -
Türk-Ermeni Uyuşmazlığı Üzerine Ömer Engin Lütem Konferansları 2019 -
Türk-Ermeni Uyuşmazlığı Üzerine Ömer Engin Lütem Konferansları 2018 -
Ermeni Sorunuyla İlgili İngiliz Belgeleri (1912-1923) - British Documents on Armenian Question (1912-1923) -
Turkish-Russian Academics: A Historical Study on the Caucasus -
Gürcistan'daki Müslüman Topluluklar: Azınlık Hakları, Kimlik, Siyaset -
Armenian Diaspora: Diaspora, State and the Imagination of the Republic of Armenia -
Ermeni Sorunu Temel Bilgi ve Belgeler (2. Baskı)
-
CONFERENCE TITLED “HUNGARY’S PERSPECTIVES ON THE TURKIC WORLD"