In the Brexit dispute, Ireland is open to alternatives to the controversial „backstop“ guarantee to avoid a strong border with Northern Ireland. So far, however, there are no practical proposals, said Foreign Minister Simon Coveney today in Brussels.
The „backstop“ is seen as the biggest hurdle in the UK for ratifying the Withdrawal Agreement. As the period before the Brexit date is March 29, the UK government has been checking a working group on alternative arrangements since Monday.
May wants to renegotiate agreement
Prime Minister Theresa May wants to change the Brexit agreement in Brussels. When May comes, according to the European Commission, but not yet known. First, May wants to travel to Northern Ireland for a Brexit speech tomorrow.
Coveney emphasized that the withdrawal agreement already explicitly states that alternative arrangements could replace the „backstop“ – if there were any. Many options were examined in the negotiations and then rejected.
„Many, many, many hours, I can tell you, were needed to find a legally credible and pragmatic solution to this problem,“ Coveney said. „Ireland is now being asked by some in Westminster to reject a solution agreed between Britain and the EU negotiators and replace it with wishful thinking.“
Technical solution
Among other things, the British working group with Conservative MPs is considering proposals to use technological means to monitor the Irish border. It is also about methods that have not yet been considered in the Brexit negotiations, said Brexit advocate Marcus Fysh the BBC. The topic should also be the Malthouse compromise, which provides for a longer transition phase after Brexit instead of the „backstop“.
