Reports from the magazine “Politico” about the agreement for the Brexit were premature. The sticking point is to search for a way to prevent a hard border Ireland with EU member.
In the negotiations between the European Union and Great Britain, there is no final agreement on the Britains exit from the EU, according to EU circles. The ambassadors of 27 EU countries had received this in an EU briefing, two EU diplomats said on Sunday. The state of negotiations has not yet progressed so far, that the EU leaders at the summit could agree as planned this week. Previously, “Politico” had reported on an agreement over Britain leaving the Union in March.
British Brexit minister Dominic Raab traveled to Brussels this afternoon to meet with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. As there are still some big issues to be resolved, it is over-zealous to conduct the talks face-to-face, a spokesman for the British government said. British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt called on citizens to support the position of Prime Minister Theresa May.
The sticking point of the exit negotiations is currently the search for a way to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the EU member Ireland. Since there is no agreement yet, the EU calls for a backstop in the withdrawal agreement, according to which Northern Ireland would initially remain part of the customs union with the EU.
Criticism came from May’s own conservative Tory party as well as from the Northern Irish DUP. The latter rejects any provision that would treat the land part differently from the rest of the kingdom.
Britain calls for a temporary relapse solution. However, vehement Brexit advocates in May’s Conservative Party fear that the ruling could be abused to keep the whole of the UK in a customs union with the EU for an indefinite period of time.
If an agreement is reached at the EU summit on an exit agreement for the UK this week, the way would be open for a special summit on 17 and 18 November, where future trade relations would be discussed.