Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin today boosted hopes of a Brexit breakthrough on the Northern Ireland border row as he said the ‘mood music’ has changed in talks between the UK and the EU.
Martin indicated that he feels the negotiation on the Northern Ireland Protocol is now at a better place. He also said that what is occurring is positive.
He said that there was still much to be done to solve the remaining problems. However, he warned the UK not to unilaterally suspend border controls if Brussels doesn’t budge.
While the UK threatened repeatedly to activate Article 16 of Protocol, which would result in the dismantling existing arrangements, Martin cautioned that “unilateralism is never a good idea”.
He spoke as Brexit Minister Lord Frost met with Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission for face-toface discussions in Brussels.
Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin said today that there was a change in mood music during negotiations between the UK, EU and Northern Ireland. This boosted optimism about a Brexit deal on Northern Ireland’s row over the border.
Brexit Minister Lord Frost will be meeting Maros Selevic, Vice President of European Commission, for face to face talks in Brussels today
The Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed as part of the original Brexit deal, requires checks on goods to be carried out at ports in order to avoid the return of a land border with the Republic.
It has disrupted trade and upset unionists, who demanded that the rules be scrapped. They claim they are a barrier between Northern Ireland’s rest of the UK.
The UK has been meeting with the EU for several months to discuss how the protocol can be improved, but it is still not clear if they will reach an agreement.
The government has made repeated threats to activate Article 16 of Protocol to unilaterally suspend Border arrangements, if EU resists.
A similar move from Brussels would be almost certain to trigger a lawsuit and may even lead to trade war.
At the beginning of November, Martin cautioned that Article 16 activation would be irresponsible and foolish.
He said that the mood has changed in the negotiations and that he is confident of reaching a settlement.
He said: ‘That comment was made some weeks ago when the indications were that a unilateral move was going to be made to just trigger it without really serious engagement on the issues.
‘I now believe that what is happening is good and positive in terms of the engagement, it is the very type of thing I want to see that I hadn’t been seeing.’
He added: ‘I am glad to say that the mood music has changed. Now, there is still a long way to go and people have to see the substance and the detail of the issues being reconciled but I believe they can.’
Martin stated that he was’very encouraged’ by the events between Lord Frost, Mr Sefcovic.
He cautioned against Article 16 trigger and stated that’my view is unilateralism doesn’t work’. As he claimed, suspending border controls would place the UK-EU relationship in a periodof stress’.
‘I don’t want to be entering into a doomsday scenario here or making comments that might be seen as threatening in terms of what could happen,’ he said.
As part of the original Brexit agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol requires that goods be checked at ports to prevent the Republic from reopening its land borders with it.
‘But I think the implications are clear to all of us in the sense that this was a negotiated agreement over a year ago and that there is a number of relationships here.
‘There is the European Union-UK relationship. Do we really want that to go into a period of stress?’
His comments came after Lord Frost said yesterday that the threat to unilaterally tear up the border rules is still ‘very much on the table’.
He warned the EU to not mistake his’reasonable tone during talks’ for any’softening of the substantive position’.
Boris Johnson said earlier this week that it would be ‘perfectly legitimate’ for the UK to trigger Article 16 if improvements cannot be agreed with the EU.
Brussels has warned such a move would have ‘serious consequences’ for the region and the bloc’s relationship with the UK.