The Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, met the EU's negotiator for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, Michel Barnier of France, and the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium, on Monday 4 September, to reiterate his country's red lines in these negotiations. He stressed the potentially “extraordinarily negative” impact that Brexit may have on Ireland, as the Minister put it in a statement made alongside Barnier.
The Irish Minister stressed his country's unique and particularly vulnerable position in these negotiations and its interdependence with the United Kingdom on many economic and trade aspects, but also in terms of stability, with the Good Friday Agreement. Coveney emphasised how important it is to maintain all aspects of this agreement.
Last week, the French negotiator said that progress had been made on the Irish question in the last round of talks, but there was still some work to be done, particularly as regards North/South cooperation as per the agreement (see EUROPE 11852). On Monday 4 September, the EU negotiator repeated these calls. The Good Friday Agreement is enshrined in the framework of the European Union, not between Ireland and a third country. Dublin is therefore keen on safeguarding its content, particularly as regards cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health and the environment.
For instance, there are agreements between hospitals on receiving health care. The fact that the UK will become a third country therefore raises new questions. On Monday, Barnier reassured his counterpart of the importance and great priority the institution gives to this dossier, the progress of which will decide when to move to the next phase of negotiations, with equal weight with the financial question or citizens' rights. Ireland's interests are the interests of all member states and all member states and the European institutions stand “fully united” behind this principle, the Frenchman said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)