European Council president Donald Tusk, speaking in Dublin on Friday 1 December, warned the UK government that any proposal on the Irish border that failed to satisfy the Irish government would not be acceptable to the other 26 member states either.
It is only on that condition that the guidelines on the transition period and the post-Brexit relationship between the EU and the UK can be adopted.
“If the UK’s offer is unacceptable for Ireland, it will also be unacceptable for the EU”, Tusk warned. He acknowledged that “for some British politicians this may be hard to understand”. “But such is the logic behind the fact that Ireland is an EU member while the UK is leaving”, she stated.
Tusk was in Dublin to discuss the state of negotiations with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. Varadkar said that good progress had been made on the Irish issue, notably on the common travel area and on respect for the balance of the Good Friday Agreement. The best solution would have been for the United Kingdom to remain in the customs union but, since that option had been rejected, solutions that could work in practice had be found, he said, and no differences must arise in the application of internal market and customs union rules which apply in Ireland.
“The coming days will be crucial”, added Varadkar, indicating that he would be firm if the British offers fell below the expectations.
On Friday morning, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, who had set the tone in affirming that he thought it possible that agreement could be reached after December summit but “we are still not where we should be”. He suggested, however, progress could be made in the next few days.
He stated in a press conference that much remained to be done on Ireland. “We want to be positive but we stress that there cannot be a border”, he said.
“Ireland, like all of the 27, wants to move on to the second phase but more needs to be done”, a source in Brussels said.
Coveney repeated on Friday that “before moving forward in negotiations”, Dublin wanted to obtain a written guarantee from London that no physical border would be the established with Northern Ireland. “If Northern Ireland leaves the EU, it will do as part of the United Kingdom, it is the responsibility of the British government to ensure that the hard-won gains of the last 20 years there will be protected and maintained”, he said.
“We cannot be asked to take a leap in the dark by opening the second phase of negotiations in the hope that these problems will be resolved” at a later date, he added, calling for guarantees that rules currently in force in Northern Ireland, notably on food safety, would be maintained.
On Friday afternoon, an Article 50 working group met in the Council to assess progress and provide the European Commission with guidance in the decision which it will deliver on 6 December. The College of Commissioners will examine whether it is up appropriate to recommend moving on to the trade talks phase. A deadline of 4 December has been set for UK Prime Minister Theresa May to provide all the information called for by the EU 27. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)