No Brexit deal without Ireland border agreement, warns Coveney as Juncker arrives in Dublin

[OnDoutside]

Ireland’s deputy premier has warned the UK there will be no Brexit withdrawal deal without an agreement on the Irish border.

Ahead of a visit by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to Dublin, Tanaiste Simon Coveney indicated that a no-deal scenario was now being seriously contemplated within the EU.

“This is a question many people are asking,” he said.

Mr Coveney said the EU was standing firmly behind Ireland and its demand for legally binding assurances from the UK to ensure no return to a hard border on the island.

“We have been reassured over and over again that Ireland will not be left isolated here,” he said.

Mr Coveney added: “Let’s be very clear – there will be no withdrawal agreement, no transition agreement and no managed Brexit if the UK don’t follow through on their commitments.”

SNIP

But the shape of that fall-back remains a sticking point, with the EU rejecting a UK contention that it should only be temporary, even if a broader agreement fails to materialise. On Wednesday, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit co-ordinator told MPs the UK plan for a temporary customs backstop was “not acceptable” and any fall-back option cannot be time-limited. Guy Verhofstadt said the Government’s position that the backstop of continuing UK alignment with the EU customs union would cease by the end of 2021 if no other solution was found left him “puzzled”.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/brexit/no-brexit-deal-without-ireland-border-agreement-warns-coveney-as-juncker-arrives-in-dublin-37034188.html