Reacting to Theresa May outlining her next steps on Brexit in the Commons, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said there was “nothing new” in what the prime minister was proposing.

Referencing the Spice Girls’ hit Wannabe, the spokesman said: “The withdrawal agreement was agreed with the UK government, with the EU27.

“It is now on the table, it is not open for negotiation and we expect the United Kingdom to tell us what they want, what they really, really want.”

When pressed on what would happen to the Irish border if there is no deal, Mr Schinas said: “If you’d like … to push me and speculate on what might happen in a no-deal scenario in Ireland, I think it’s pretty obvious – you will have a hard border.”

Downing Street has said Britain will do everything it can to keep the border open, but the EU’s position is that Ireland would have to enforce EU customs and other checks on imports from Britain in the absence of a special deal.

Dublin has insisted for months that while it will prepare for “no-deal” at its ports and airports, it will not put in place infrastructure to check goods or people at its land border with Northern Ireland.

Addressing MPs on Monday, Mrs May said she would hold further talks on the Irish border backstop to find an arrangement to take back to Brussels in a bid to win concessions.

The controversial insurance policy – which is designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland in the event Britain and the EU cannot agree a free-trade deal – is seen as the main sticking point to getting the PM’s deal through parliament.

Some Tory MPs – and those in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party – have called for the backstop to be removed from the withdrawal agreement altogether.

They oppose the arrangement because, in order to keep the border frictionless, Northern Ireland would be required to follow some EU rules and regulations.

Opponents say this would weaken the constitutional integrity of the Union as Northern Ireland would be treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom.

They have also expressed fears Britain could end up being trapped in the arrangement indefinitely.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney met with chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on Monday.

He said he received assurances that the EU remains “firmly supportive” of the withdrawal agreement in its entirety, including the guarantees around no hard border in Ireland.

Mr Barnier said: “We are working 27 as a team, a single team and we negotiate as one.”

But in a potential breakthrough for Mrs May’s hopes of winning further concessions on the backstop, Poland’s foreign minister suggested it could apply for a maximum of five years.

However, Austria’s foreign minister has poured cold water on the suggestion.

Karin Kneissl told the BBC: “We were all taken by surprise when the Polish minister made his statement.

“We have had cohesion and we wish to continue having cohesion on the EU27 position, so the statement by our Polish colleague came as a surprise, but I don’t believe that it will cause some sort of breakthrough, certainly not because if we start having all kinds of bilateral suggestions it doesn’t lead us anywhere.”

She also played down expectations the EU could agree to extend Article 50 to give the UK more time to negotiate beyond the current divorce date on 29 March, saying: “Where is the added value of the new British suggestion?”

Meanwhile, a senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has warned the PM against testing the EU’s patience for political reasons.

“Sympathy, patience and readiness to wait until the UK’s position will be clarified are of utmost importance to avoid the worst,” said industry minister Peter Altmaier.

“They should not be misused for party politics. A large majority wants to exclude hard Brexit – in the interest of the UK and beyond.”

Source: Read Full Article