Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of Brexit negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36490/18]

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the Brexit negotiations; the progress on reaching agreement on the backstop; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36905/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 83 together.

We are in a critical phase of the Article 50 negotiations, which resumed on 16 August and have been continuous since then. Both sets of negotiators have committed to bringing new energy to the talks, including on the Irish specific issues, and I welcome these commitments. It is important to recall that there are in effect two separate, though linked, negotiations: one to agree a full legal Withdrawal Agreement, and the other to reach a political understanding on the framework for future relations. It is the former which is the immediate priority.

In his statement on 31 August following his meeting with the UK Secretary of State, Dominic Raab, the EU’s Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier noted some progress on a number of remaining issues in the recent negotiations, including on the handling of data in the context of the withdrawal, though more progress is needed on the issue of geographical indications. Discussions to agree a political declaration on the framework for the future EU-UK relationship have also begun in earnest since the resumption of negotiations last month. This has been enabled by the UK’s White Paper on the future relationship and is being taken forward on the basis of the European Council Guidelines agreed in March. In this context, there has been a convergence of views on the ambition of future EU-UK cooperation on foreign policy, security and defence. However, it is also clear that there remain very substantial differences on many issues.

Regarding the backstop, Michel Barnier again stressed on 31 August that a legally operable solution for the Irish backstop is essential for agreeing the Withdrawal Agreement and called on the UK to provide the necessary data for the purpose of examining technical issues on the nature, location and modality of the controls needed in the event of the backstop being implemented.

Our position and that of the EU remains that while we would like to see the border issue resolved through the future relationship, there must be a backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement that provides absolute certainty that no matter what the outcome to the negotiations on the future relationship, there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland.

We have a firm commitment from Prime Minister May – if no other solution is agreed – to full alignment with the relevant rules of the Single Market and Customs Union to deliver on her guarantee of avoiding a hard border. In March, she also agreed to having a legally operative ‘backstop’ in the Withdrawal Agreement.

The EU and Ireland will hold the UK to these commitments. As the European Council made very clear at its meeting in June, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and there can be no Withdrawal Agreement, and therefore no transition, without an agreement on the backstop. Ministers reiterated this in Brussels on 20 July and agreed that renewed efforts are needed to conclude, as soon as possible, all outstanding issues in the Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop. The EU27 also reaffirmed their solidarity and support for Ireland.