The EU is willing to ‘improve’ its offer to the UK on a deal with the Irish border to help seal a Brexit deal, Brussels’ chief negotiator has revealed.
Following a meeting with representatives of the other 27 EU nations, Michel Barnier said October will prove a decisive month as to whether ‘a Brexit agreement is within reach’.
The 67-year-old added talks were in the ‘home straight’, although two key issues remained unresolved ahead of October’s deadlines – one being the problem surrounding the Irish border.
Chief EU negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier is seen ahead of a special European Union general affairs meeting on Brexit in Brussels
Barnier said that an Irish ‘backstop’ must be legally operationally and respect the UK’s constitutional integrity.
The conciliatory tone from Barnier comes as a major boost for Theresa May, who is due to deliver a speech to the leaders of EU nations in Salzburg tomorrow.
‘We are ready to improve this proposal. Most checks can take place away from the border, at company premises, or the market,’ Barnier said of customs and regulatory checks on goods that might move from British mainland to Northern Ireland.
Aware that Theresa May has ruled out a new ‘border’ between Northern Ireland and the British mainland, Barnier said he was looking at a range of ways to ensure the UK did not sidestep EU controls on British goods.
Barnier insisted it was only an ‘insurance policy’ which may never be used if a deal was struck.
He added that October would prove to be the ‘moment of truth’ when it becomes clear if a deal could be reached.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, Barnier said: ‘It is then we shall see whether agreement we are hoping for is in our grasp.’
‘October is the key point in time – it is the moment of truth. We will see whether an agreement is in reach at that moment based on a subjective evaluation which I will be submitting in reporting to the European leaders on the state of negotiations.’
He added: ‘A lot of issues, including the Irish issue, will I hope have made significant progress and hopefully will have been resolved.’
Theresa May has also struck an optimistic tone ahead of her address to EU leaders at dinner tomorrow.
In an interview before she jetted out to Austria, she claimed Brexit meant the ‘freedom to deliver the British dream’.
Mrs May said: ‘We gave people the opportunity to make a choice. They made that choice.
‘If we as politicians want people to trust us, then we have to deliver for them on that.
Aware that British Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out a new ‘border’ between the province and the British mainland, Barnier said he was looking at a broad range of ways in which the EU could be sure that Britain did not use Northern Ireland’s special status to sidestep EU controls on British goods
‘I’m putting on the table what we think is the right plan for the UK and deliver a good deal for the EU.
‘When the referendum took place, we gave people the opportunity to make a choice. They made that choice. If we as politicians want people to trust us, then we have to deliver for them on that. If we were to go back on that vote, it would destroy trust in politicians.
‘A lot of people out there, however they voted in the referendum, say a decision’s been taken, let’s get on with and do it.
‘I’m confident we can get a good deal. We’ve put the Chequers plan on the table and that does deliver for people.
‘I believe that what we’re proposing is the Brexit that delivers the freedoms that people voted for – making our own laws, controlling our own borders, controlling our money.
The EU’s leaders are convening in Salzburg on Wednesday where Theresa May will urge her counterparts to get behind the Chequers plan for a Brexit deal
‘What I hear from other EU leaders is a recognition of that timetable and a recognition of the importance of showing we can sit down and come to an agreement.
‘I’m not going to be pushed away from doing what is necessary to get the right deal for Britain.
‘The plan that is on the table to take us forward, the plan that delivers on the Brexit vote but also protects jobs and maintains the unity of the UK is the Chequers plan. I haven’t seen another plan that delivers on all of those. she said.
‘I think people want to come together. For most people, they want Brexit done and they want to feel the country at last has come together.
‘As a nation, we’re at a really important point in our history. Brexit is that important point because our future is in our own hands.
‘We’ll have the opportunity to take the freedoms that people voted for and use them to deliver that better future for everybody.’
However one sour note is that the Prime Minister will reportedly only be given ten minutes to sell Britain’s Brexit vision to EU leaders after EU council president Donald Tusk allegedly shortened her address.