Dáil debates
Tuesday, 13 November 2018
Ceisteanna - Questions
Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements
3:55 am
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together.
On 4 October, I travelled to Brussels for a series of meetings with the staff of the EU institutions ahead of an important phase of negotiations on the EU-UK withdrawal agreement. I met the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, the chief EU Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and the chair of the European Parliament Brexit steering group, Guy Verhofstadt. At all three meetings, I said we wanted the future relationship between the EU and the UK to be as close, comprehensive and ambitious as possible, but that it was essential that a legally robust backstop is set out clearly in the withdrawal agreement. I expressed my appreciation for the ongoing efforts of Mr. Barnier and his team in the negotiations with the United Kingdom and thanked all my interlocutors for their robust solidarity with Ireland. The EU proposals outlined in the draft protocol earlier this year are practical solutions to protect the gains of the peace process and to keep the Border as open and invisible as it is today. They represent no threat to the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.
We want to see a future relationship agreed between the EU and the UK that makes the backstop unnecessary once the period of transition ends, but that outcome cannot be guaranteed. The backstop must, therefore, be in place as part of the Irish protocol to offer full confidence that under no circumstances will there be a return to a hard border in Ireland. My interlocutors reaffirmed their solidarity with Ireland and reiterated their strong view that the UK is under an obligation to deliver on the clear commitments and guarantees that Prime Minister May gave in December, March and September if there is to be a satisfactory withdrawal agreement, including provision for a transition period to the end of 2020. I assure the House that these and other reassurances of solidarity that I receive in private are every bit as robust as those voiced in public. EU backing has been unwavering. Ongoing political engagement with our partners remains crucial and I will continue to take every opportunity to ensure our partners fully understand our particular concerns to enable the best possible outcome for this country.
Along with my fellow members of the European Council, I met Mr. Tusk and Mr. Barnier again at our most recent summit in Brussels on 17 and 18 October. I have seen President Tusk twice since then, including at the European People's Party conference in Helsinki. I also recently met President Juncker in Paris.
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