H.E. Mr. Du?an Matulay:

When it comes to trade and relations with the UK, we are very similar to Ireland.

We are a highly export-oriented open economy, so maintaining a high degree of co-operation in economic areas with the UK is a priority for us. There are many unknown unknowns, as a great politician once said, hence many things are hypothetical and I do not want to go into detail on some of the specific questions. For instance, Deputy Crowe asked what will happen in between. Commissioner Barnier was here. There is a lot of talk going on. The Parliament also appointed its negotiation team. The triggering of Article 50 does not mean we are frozen and not moving. That is what we are not doing. A lot is happening in Ireland, Slovakia and the Netherlands. All the departments are busy working out a feasible strategy and approach to this situation.

I mentioned the example of Slovakia and the Czech Republic and the divorce of Czechoslovakia because we believe the negotiation process will be important and that is where we caution. Some members mentioned that there is a risk of some hostile negotiations. That would be truly not good and we do not wish that.

Senator Coghlan and Deputy Durkan referred to the High Court judgment. I do not want to speculate about the impact but many voices are afraid, including in Slovakia, that it might lead to a further postponement of the invoking of Article 50 and that could cause many difficulties. If the negotiations start after March 2017, for instance, there are European Parliament elections in 2019. Will these elections happen in all 28 member states? Delaying the negotiations would trigger plenty of questions. We certainly do not wish that.

Many questions were raised about the specific challenges faced by Ireland. They should be voiced as members are voicing them. The earliest opportunity will be the COSAC plenary in Bratislava a month from now. I assure members that the Slovak deputies will hear them with open ears, as will all the other colleagues.

There were requests for individual consultations to go through the concrete issues such as the diaspora mentioned by Senator Richmond. I would be happy to talk about it individually.