Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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111. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the outcome of the recent EU Council meeting on Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49822/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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At the General Affairs Council (Article 50) on Monday 20 November, the EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, provided an update to the EU27 Member States on the state of play with regard to the EU-UK negotiations.

This provided an important opportunity to take stock of progress in light of the forthcoming decision by the European Council in December on whether or not sufficient progress has been made on the exit issues in order to enable discussions on the framework for a future EU-UK relationship and transitional arrangements to begin.

In this regard, Mr Barnier reported that, while some progress was made in the latest round of negotiations on 9-10 November, there is a lot of work remaining in order to achieve sufficient progress across all of the exit issues - citizens’ rights, the UK’s financial settlement and the issues unique to Ireland.

During the meeting, I took the opportunity to express Ireland’s strong support for the work of Michel Barnier and his team. I also acknowledged the continuing solidarity and support we are enjoying from our EU partners in relation to the Irish specific issues, which was again in evidence throughout the meeting on 20 November.

I emphasised that the decision on whether or not sufficient progress has been made across all three exit issues is one that the EU27 will take together, on the basis of a recommendation from Mr Barnier.

As concerns the Irish specific issues, I underlined that the negotiations have reached the point where firm, explicit commitments are required from the UK, which will need to be reflected in the Withdrawal Agreement. The achievement of sufficient progress does not mean that all issues need to be definitively settled and the detail worked out. But what is essential is that the path to the final outcome is mapped out.

This includes protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, and the gains of the peace process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. In this regard, I recalled that Ireland continues to believe that the optimal solution would be for the UK to remain in the Customs Union and the Single Market. But this is ultimately a decision for the UK Government to make. If the UK continues to rule out this option, the solutions that it offers must be concrete and workable. This should include an acceptance by the UK that the risks posed by the emergence on the island of Ireland of regulatory divergence from the rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union must be avoided.

I also welcomed that there has been particular progress on advancing joint principles on the continuation of the Common Travel Area and that officials have also been carrying out detailed work over the last few weeks to map out areas of cooperation that operate on a North South basis on the island of Ireland and which rely on EU law and policies. I noted, however, that there is still more work to be done in this area.

I expressed Ireland’s commitment to continue working closely with the Commission Task Force to advance these issues and our hope that, with hard work and political will, the European Council will be able to take a positive decision next month.