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Passing laws to prevent the extension of Brexit negotiations will not force the EU to rush into a deal, T\u00e1naiste Simon Coveney has warned.<\/p>\nPassing laws to prevent the extension of Brexit negotiations will not force the EU to rush into a deal, T\u00e1naiste Simon Coveney has warned.<\/p>\n
Mr Coveney said the EU felt the end of 2020 deadline set by Boris Johnson was \u201cambitious, if not unrealistic\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Affairs Minister said he felt it would take longer than 12 months, as he highlighted the deal encompassed much more than trade and included areas like aviation, fishing and data.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people talk about the future relationship, in the UK in particular, they seem to only talk about a future trade agreement, actually there\u2019s much more to this than that \u2013 there\u2019s fishing, there\u2019s aviation, there\u2019s data and so many other things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that Prime Minister Johnson has set a very ambitious timetable to get this done.<\/p>\n
“He has even put it into British law, but just because a British parliament decides that British laws say something doesn\u2019t mean that that law applies to the other 27 countries of the European Union and so the European Union will approach this on the basis of getting the best deal possible \u2013 a fair and balanced deal to ensure the EU and the UK can interact as friends in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the EU will not be rushed on this just because Britain passes law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about the possibility of a series of side deals on specific areas if time ran out to strike a comprehensive agreement, Mr Coveney raised concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would certainly much rather negotiate a comprehensive deal that deals with all of these things collectively and together,\u201d he told the BBC\u2019s Andrew Marr Show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have learnt anything from the first round of Brexit, which has taken a lot longer than it should have, is that we have got to provide certainty for people, we can\u2019t continue to have crisis after crisis and the uncertainty and brinkmanship of Brexit negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The T\u00e1naiste also expressed concern at the tone of media coverage in the UK, highlighting attempts to frame the engagement as Britain trying to defeat or stand up to the EU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the language of enemies, not friends, and we need to move away from that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth sides in this negotiation in the next stage of Brexit has a vested interest in working together \u2013 not to try to outmaneuver each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key issue in the negotiations will be how the financial services industry in the City of London will be able to serve clients within the EU.<\/p>\n
Amid concern the EU might limit the City\u2019s access to its European markets, outgoing Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney has warned that it would not be appropriate for the sector to be regulated by Brussels.<\/p>\n
Mr Coveney said it would be impossible to maintain the system as it presently operates.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the penny is finally dropping that when you leave a union that you have been a part of for 45 years that things don\u2019t remain the same and that is inconvenient and it has consequences for the UK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK has decided to move in a different direction, no longer as part of the European Union and the collective shelter of that and opportunity that comes with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why, from an Irish perspective, we want in all of these areas, whether it is financial services, whether it is agri-food, whether it\u2019s fishing, whether it\u2019s security, whether it\u2019s preventing the new trade relationship resulting in barriers to trade through quotas or tariffs, we want the closest possible relations we can have.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way of the UK in this negotiation maintaining the relationship we have today while outside of the European Union, and that\u2019s the reality of Brexit I\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether the EU was committed to agreeing a security partnership with the UK, regardless of the fate of trade negotiations, Mr Coveney said the bloc would approach the issue \u201cresponsibly\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly I think security is something the EU wants to get an early agreement on with the UK and I think that makes sense for both sides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut again this is something that Boris Johnson is saying he wants to do in less than 12 months and I think the European Union has constantly warned that that time frame is ambitious if not unrealistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo from an EU perspective we will try to approach all of these really important and sensitive areas with a sense of partnership and friendship, but at the same time they are complex and we will need to work through all of them, hopefully in parallel, but in my view it is probably going to take longer than a year, but we\u2019ll have to see.\u201d<\/p>\n