Ireland will have final say on progress of Brexit talks, says EU
Donald Tusk says that if Ireland cannot accept UK offer for its border, EU will not allow negotiations to move on to trade
Donald Tusk (right) with the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/EPA
Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent
@lisaocarroll
Friday 1 December 2017 17.53 GMTFirst published on Friday 1 December 2017 17.38 GMT
Ireland will have the final say on whether the UK has made sufficient progress in negotiations over the weekend to move to the next stage of Brexit talks, the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, has said.
After an hour-long meeting with Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Tusk said he had agreed that the taoiseach would be consulted fully before the guidelines for negotiations on
Brexit transition arrangements would be circulated among the 27 member states.
Ireland, which is looking for written commitment that there will be no return to a hard border with
Northern Ireland, has threatened to veto progress if Britain does not come up with a satisfactory and concrete offer by next Monday.
“Let me say very clearly. If the UK offer is unacceptable for Ireland, it will also be unacceptable for the EU. I realise that for some British politicians this may be hard to understand,” said Tusk.
“But such is the logic behind the fact that Ireland is the EU member while the UK is leaving.
“This is why the key to the UK’s future lies – in some ways – in Dublin, at least as long as Brexit negotiations continue.”
He told reporters after the Dublin meeting that Theresa May had been asked to “put a final offer on the table” by 4 December in order to “ assess whether sufficient progress can be made at the upcoming European council” which meets on 13 and 14 December.
At that meeting the 27 member states will decide formally whether or not the “sufficient progress” test will be met on three issues: the financial settlement, EU citizens’ right and the Irish border.
“And we have agreed today that before proposing guidelines on transition and future relations to the leaders, I will consult the taoiseach if the UK offer is sufficient for the Irish government,” he added.
British and European Brexit task force officials are having “intense discussions” on how to reconcile the desire by all parties not to have a hard border with the legal requirement to have customs border checks once the UK departs the bloc.
There is no indication yet of a text that would be agreeable to the Irish, and Varadkar warned again on Friday that Ireland was prepared to prevent talks moving forward.
“I’m also prepared to stand firm with our partners if needs be, if the offer falls short on any of those issues including the Irish ones,” he said.
He reiterated that Ireland believed “the best and most obvious solution would be for the UK to remain in the customs union and the single market but as the British have ruled that out” it was seeking alternative “credible” and “concrete” solutions.
“We have to ensure we avoid the risk by any regulatory divergence,” he said.
He said he believed that “with the right engagement and the right political will” agreement could be reached. “The next few days will be crucial,” he added".
Interesting week-end in store, and I don't just mean the Huddersfield game.
