Dublin downplays hopes of imminent breakthrough on Northern Ireland post-Brexit border rules row as it warns against ‘unrealistic’ expectations ahead of crunch EU-UK talks next week
- Simon Coveney warned against ‘unrealistic’ hopes of a major talks breakthrough
- EU-UK joint committee to meet next Monday to discuss post-Brexit border rules
- EU-UK have been locked in talks for months but breakthrough remains elusive
Simon Coveney today warned against hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the EU-UK dispute over post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland ahead of crunch talks next week.
Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister said ‘it’s important not to be unrealistic in terms of the expectations’ before a meeting in Brussels on Monday.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is due to meet with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic as the long-running row over the Northern Ireland Protocol continues to rumble on.
Simon Coveney today warned against hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the EU-UK dispute over post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland ahead of crunch talks next week
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is due to meet with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic as the long-running row over the Northern Ireland Protocol continues to rumble on
The protocol was negotiated as part of the Brexit deal to avoid a hard border with Ireland, by effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods.
But unionists have been pressuring for it to be scrapped because of the trade barriers it has created on products crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain.
The UK and EU remain locked in talks as they try to agree solutions to smooth the operation of the protocol but a breakthrough remains elusive.
Britain has repeatedly threatened to trigger Article 16 of the protocol to unilaterally tear up the border rules if the two sides cannot strike an agreement.
The EU-UK joint committee will convene in Brussels on Monday to discuss the contentious Irish Sea trading arrangements.
Asked about the prospects of significant progress being made at the meeting, Mr Coveney said: ‘I think it’s important not to be unrealistic in terms of the expectations that may come from that meeting.
‘I think the likely scenario is that there probably will be a joint statement from both sides in terms of outlining the issues that they want to try and address together.
‘But we should use that as a staging point for progress, as opposed to a reminder of how far apart the two sides continue to be.’
Mr Coveney was speaking during a visit to Belfast as he met with political leaders two weeks after the DUP pulled first minister Paul Givan out of the Stormont Executive in protest against the protocol.
Northern Ireland Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on May 5.
Mr Coveney said the ‘inability so far to settle some of the outstanding issues around how the protocol is implemented is having a very polarising impact on politics in Northern Ireland’.
But he said concerns about the operation of the protocol must be kept in ‘perspective’.
He said: ‘I think we were also reminded in the last few days that not everybody on the streets of Northern Ireland are talking about the protocol in the context of these (Assembly) elections.
‘In fact, less than seven per cent of people polled in Northern Ireland have said that the protocol is the first issue for them in terms of how they’ll vote. So you know, I think we need to put this into perspective.’
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