Representatives of the Ulster unionist parties of Northern Ireland, including the leader of the DUP, Arlene Foster, and the UUP began a several-day visit of Brussels on Tuesday 9 October, where they met with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier.
After the meeting, Arlene Foster reiterated her red lines at a press conference, rejecting any solution that would create a regulatory barrier or controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
At her side, Northern Irish MEP Diane Dodds (non-attached) noted the degree of economic integration between Northern Ireland and the UK, with Northern Ireland selling more products to the UK than to Eire and the rest of the EU.
She criticised the absurdity of the solution that the EU has proposed for settling the Irish problem, a solution that she said would involve yogurt manufactured in the UK from northern Irish milk being controlled again when it returned to Northern Ireland.
The EU envisaged, with this safety net, that there would probably be more physical controls at the border between Northern Ireland and the UK on live animals or phytosanitary products, at the start at least. Over and beyond that, the European Commission thinks that most controls can be light and done without physical inspections and not necessarily at ports, being done instead on the market itself.
Both women say that having more physical controls for live animals and derivative products is unacceptable, Arlene Foster noting, however, that she had not seen any alternative proposals from Theresa May. The two women, however, both challenged that fact that it was a purely constitutional opposition, saying it was also based on economic reasons relating to the disruption that could be created by the controls. They insisted that no matter what solution, Northern Ireland must not be treated any differently from the rest of the United Kingdom.
On Wednesday morning, the European Commission will hold talks on the state of the negotiations with Michel Barnier. Unlike what it had been considering at the end of last week, it not now expected to publish on 10 October a draft final declaration on future relations or even a communication on preparations for a ‘no deal’, which was once under consideration. That does not mean that the negotiations are heading for a brick wall, as work and talks are continuing and the Commission is expected to take advantage of a new ‘Coreper’ planned for the end of the afternoon on Friday 12 October in Luxembourg to submit a draft agreement. The latter would probably cover the withdrawal agreement, explains a source, and possibly also the future relationship. A meeting of the EU27 sherpas will then take place in Brussels on Monday evening before a General Affairs Council on Article 50 in Luxembourg on 16 October. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)