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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

I attended the Informal meeting of EU Heads of State and Government in Salzburg on 19 and 20 September. The summit, which was chaired by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, was one of a series of such meetings relating to the future of Europe. On this occasion, our focus was on migration and internal security. We also took the opportunity to discuss progress in the negotiations on Brexit.

On migration, we had a useful exchange on how best to progress the comprehensive approach we agreed at the June European Council. This involves working to secure our external borders, to strengthen co-operation with countries of origin and transit and to deal with the management of migrants in the EU.

On internal security, we discussed the increasing cyberthreats we face, including to the integrity of our electoral systems. No formal conclusions were adopted but the outcome of our discussions fed into the October meeting of the European Council, which took place in Brussels last week.

Our discussions on Brexit, which took place in Article 50 format, provided an opportunity to review progress in the negotiations. We discussed this again at the European Council last week and agreed that, despite the intensified negotiations since Salzburg, the decisive progress we so urgently need has not been achieved.

We reaffirmed our full confidence in Mr. Barnier and urged him to continue his efforts to reach an agreement. On both occasions, I reiterated the need for a legally operable version of the backstop in the withdrawal agreement, and thanked EU partners for their ongoing solidarity on this issue. I had a bilateral meeting with the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, in the margins of the Salzburg summit on Thursday, 20 September, in which we discussed the state of play in the Brexit negotiations, as well as developments in Northern Ireland. I had a further meeting with the Prime Minister in the margins of the European Council last week.

On both occasions, I emphasised my aspiration that the future relationship between the EU and the UK will be as close and comprehensive as possible. I reiterated that the withdrawal agreement, including the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a robust and legally watertight backstop, must be agreed first.

I did not have a formal bilateral meeting with the Polish Prime Minister, Mr. Morawiecki, in Salzburg, although I did of course meet and engage informally with him and with my other EU counterparts in the margins of the summit and again last week in Brussels.

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