Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney warned on Friday that time was running out for Britain and the European Union to make a separation deal with the British Brexit minister also saying the moment of truth was approaching.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised that Britain will leave the EU on Oct 31 whether or not a deal has been agreed and while both sides claim they are interested in making an agreement, there is little sign of the deadlock being broken.
Boris Johnson’s opponents say leaving the EU without making a deal to put most of its trading dynamics in order would push Britain into economic crisis. The government claims it has made arrangements to dodge serious disruption.
The EU agreed on a withdrawal package with former Prime Minister Theresa May but this was rejected three times by the British parliament over the “Irish backstop”, which is an insurance policy to refrain the possibility of a possible conflict between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
After a meeting with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, Ireland’s Coveney said negotiations had to be on the basis of a “serious proposal” from the British on how they would replace the backstop.
“That hasn’t happened yet and until there is a serious proposal in writing … then the gaps that are wide at the moment will remain. And time is running out,” he told media.
Barnier said the bloc was firmly united on insisting on a legally operative fix for the Irish border issue, saying it needed to avoid a hard border and protect the integrity of the EU’s single market.
“The onus is on the British prime minister and his team,” Coveney said, mentioning that Ireland was open to extending the Brexit departure date. “An extension is preferable to no deal,” he added.
Britain is due to release solid legal statements on their Brexit plans next week after the Conservative Party conference.
This month, British lawmakers enforced a law that bounds Johnson to seek an extension to Brexit unless he has agreed on a fresh deal with the EU by Oct 19 or got parliament’s approval to leave without an agreement, a possibility that majority of lawmakers and many businesses believe would be disastrous.
Johnson has repeatedly said he would abide by the law, which he has dubbed the “surrender act”, but Britain would definitely leave on Oct 31 without explaining the obvious contradiction.
“We will obey the law, but we’re confident we can come out on Oct 31 and the best way to do that is to get a deal,” Johnson told media on Friday.
“That’s why the surrender act is so damaging,” Johnson said. “It has had an effect with our European friends making them think: ‘maybe parliament can block this thing, maybe they will be forced to extend.’ If you’re in a negotiation that obviously makes it more difficult.”
