Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Howlin asked whether it would be possible to extend the Article 50 deadline beyond 29 March 2019. I understand that is possible under the treaties, but could only be done by unanimity - it would require all 27 member states to agree to it. Currently the United Kingdom has not asked for it and I do not see any benefit in offering it at this stage. I believe the UK needs to make decisions and choices. The British continually seem to have internal debates among each other. While there has been some improvement in recent months, very often the policy of "having your cake and eating it" seems to be at the centre of the UK's requests of the European Union. Some decisions need to be made by the United Kingdom Government. Putting off a decision does not make it any easier. I would rather not talk about extending that deadline at the moment. As I have said, the UK has not requested it and so I do not think we should even consider it at this stage.

We did have a conversation about an EU Marshall-type plan for Africa. I have an interest in the matter and I discussed it in my speech to the European Parliament earlier in the year. Chancellor Merkel is also very enthusiastic about it. Belgium has history in central Africa, as do we but coming from a very different perspective and history. Both of us are very much of the view that part of Europe's external efforts in the future should be focused on Africa, in order to build up Africa as a trading partner and also to remove some of the push factors that cause mass migration from Africa to the European Union. We spoke about how if we get it right, the Africa of the future could be a little bit like Asia now, a continent where 1 billion people have been lifted out of poverty and a continent with which we now want to cut trade deals rather than provide aid to. That will require not just aid but assistance with governance, democratisation and so on.

As is always the case on European issues, there can often by agreement on sentiment and policy but when it comes to agreeing to increase budget contributions people are less enthusiastic. Ireland is one of the countries that is willing to increase its budget contribution to the European Union.

Deputy Neville asked if agriculture and trade was one of the issues discussed at the meeting. We discussed the impact potentially on the ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp which receive a lot of trade from Britain and Ireland as well. We are very much aligned in our wishes that countries neighbouring the United Kingdom retain trading arrangements that are as close to what they are now. We also discussed Mercusor. The House will be aware that Ireland and France have expressed real concerns about the impact a free trade agreement with the Mercusor countries could have on our beef industry. What I did not know until the meeting was that this concern is shared by the Belgian Government because Belgium also has a large agriculture sector and a very important and sensitive beef sector. These talks are ongoing. We do have allies in taking the view that a free trade agreement with the Mercusor countries would benefit all economies in Europe but we must also protect sensitive sectors such as the beef sector. We had that discussion and agreement over a working lunch.

I reiterate that the deadline for the withdrawal agreement, including the Irish protocol is and always has been October. I said this last March when the European guidelines were issued. We do need to see real and substantial progress by the June summit. The European leaders - the prime ministers and presidents - will determine at that meeting whether they believe real and substantial progress has been made. While the UK's proposal last week is welcome and is a small step forward, it falls short. Without more from London, as things stand today, I cannot say that we have achieved real and substantial progress but there is still two weeks between now and the summit.

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