BRUSSELS, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The EU gave a chilly response
to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s letter demanding the scrapping of
the Irish border backstop plan to achieve a Brexit deal, saying he had
offered no workable alternative.
“The letter does not provide a legal operational solution to prevent the
return of a hard border on the island of Ireland,” European Commission
spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told reporters.
Johnson wrote to EU Council President Donald Tusk on Monday to insist that Britain could not accept what he called the “anti-democratic” backstop, a mechanism to avoid border checks between EU-member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland.
Since taking office last month, Johnson has been adamant Britain will leave the EU on Oct 31 come what may and has stepped up preparations for a chaotic “no deal” departure that would cause major economic disruption.
But the European Commission, the EU executive which has led Brexit negotiations with London, dismissed the proposal in Johnson’s letter that the backstop could be replaced with a “commitment” to find “alternative arrangements”.
“The letter does not provide a legal operational solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland,” Bertaud said.
“It does not set out what any alternative arrangements could be, and in fact it recognises there is no guarantee that such arrangements will be in place by the end of the transitional period.”
Brussels insists that the backstop — which would keep the UK in EU customs arrangements to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland — is essential to preserve the integrity of European trade and to avoid risking a return of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
The European Union is being “a bit negative” concerning reaching a Brexit deal but it can be done, Johnson said on Tuesday evening.
“At the moment, it is absolutely true that our friends and partners are a bit negative … but I think we’ll get there. I think there is a real sense now that something needs to be done with this backstop,” he told reporters.
“We think there’s a big opportunity now for everybody to come together, take out that backstop and then … in the course of the negotiations on the free trade deal … which we’re going to do after October 31, we will be bringing forward all the ways in which we can maintain frictionless trade at the Northern Irish border,” he added.
EU leaders have repeatedly indicated that they are unwilling to revisit the withdrawal agreement, which was the culmination of almost three years of discussions.
Finnish prime minister Antti Rinne on Monday “reiterated” to Johnson that the EU would not renegotiate the Brexit deal, a spokesman said.
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar also repeated his stance that the withdrawal agreement cannot be reopened.
The backstop would force Britain to obey some EU rules if no other way could be found to keep the land border open between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Dublin says this is crucial to maintaining peace.
Johnson is due to carry out his first foreign trip as prime minister this week to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. — NNN-AGENCIES
