Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The position of the EU, including Ireland, has always been clear. Environmental issues in the fight against climate change should play an important role in the negotiations. I refer in particular to how we are to address the need for the level playing field. It has to be central to any future partnership agreement. This is something all member states have said time and again. The political declaration already agreed by the EU and UK provides a very clear vision as to how the level playing field could address a future relationship. It is clear that the provisions are designed to try to prevent a distortion of trade and unfair competitive advantages and to ensure we have a sustainable and long-lasting relationship in this context. The political declaration explicitly refers to environmental standards and climate change as areas that need to be covered in this. What we want to see are strong protections for environmental standards. We believe the partnership we are trying to negotiate should reflect that the EU and UK share a common biosphere. With respect to cross-Border pollution, we have been very strong on this, and we have tried to make sure in every step of the process, be it in negotiating the Northern Ireland protocol or in determining what happens next, that representatives of the environmental pillar are around the table with us and fully aware of what we are doing. We are aware of the work that needs to be done.

In the fight against climate change, we have tried to ensure the partnership will firmly reaffirm both parties' commitments to various international agreements, particularly the Paris Agreement. We want to see effective relationships in place regarding carbon pricing and emissions trading. It appears, however, that the UK has much lower ambitions in this area. When it comes to a level playing field, the UK is saying consistently that it is not going to lower its standards. At the same time, it does not seem to want to come to the table to agree a minimum standard. Obviously this is where there are difficulties. Our position remains that there needs to be a strong and effective arrangement in place when it comes to environment and climate issues. This is very clearly reflected already in the EU's legal mandate. A lot of work has been done. The outline is very clear.

With regard to the Northern Ireland protocol, we expect it will be implemented as agreed. That will, in effect, address the North–South issues also.

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