Brussels will not be intimidated by a Brexit blame game, says Barnier
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier
Brussels will not be "intimidated" by Britons who try to blame the EU for their inability to secure the Brexit deal they want, chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said.
Mr Barnier was speaking as he said that Theresa May's proposals for a backstop customs arrangement in Northern Ireland raise a series of "difficult" questions.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Barnier said it was not necessarily "feasible" to extend the EU's offer of continued participation in key elements of the customs union in Northern Ireland to cover the whole of the UK, as the Prime Minister's proposal suggests.
And he said Mrs May's insistence that the arrangement must be time-limited meant that it could not be regarded as a true backstop, providing a fallback option if the UK's preferred permanent solution could not be agreed.
"Backstop means backstop," he said. "The temporary backstop is not in line with what we want or what Ireland and Northern Ireland want and need."
You may also want to watch:
Mr Barnier said it appeared that some Brexit supporters wanted to offload on to Brussels the blame for the fact that the UK cannot continue to enjoy some of the benefits of EU membership after leaving.
But he said: "We are not going to be intimidated by this form of blame game."
Most Read
- 1 The bigot we should have called out on day one
- 2 The greatest failure of government in our lifetime
- 3 Nigel Farage launches new party in Scotland to promote 'positive case for the Union'
- 4 Matt Hancock praises free school meals before being reminded he voted against them
- 5 The worryingly familiar signs for Britain's vaccine roll-out
- 6 Brexiteer MP ridiculed after calling for free movement of goods between GB and NI
- 7 Brexit changes lead to exodus of Brits from Spain, UK nationals claim
- 8 Brexiteer says he'd never have voted for Brexit 'if we knew we'd lose our jobs'
- 9 The polling that signals the plight of the Union
- 10 Fears government could scrap workers' rights in post-Brexit overhaul of labour laws
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.