Thursday

23rd Mar 2023

Ireland comes first, and no financial services, Tusk tells UK

  • Leo Varadkar (l) and Donald Tusk, during the EU Council president's visit to Ireland (Photo: Consilium)

Ireland will come first in negotiations over Brexit and the EU-UK long term relationship, European Council president Donald Tusk said Thursday, while insisting it is not up to the UK to define the EU's interests.

"We also expect the UK to propose a specific and realistic solution to avoid a hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Tusk said in Dublin after a meeting with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"As long as the UK doesn't present such a solution, it is very difficult to imagine substantive progress in Brexit negotiations.

Last week, Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier presented an EU draft legal text for the withdrawal and the transition. On Wednesday, Tusk unveiled the draft guidelines for the future relationship.



But both negotiations depend on an agreement over the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

"If in London someone assumes that the negotiations will deal with other issues first, before moving to the Irish issue, my response would be: Ireland first," Tusk warned in Dublin.

So far, Tusk noted, the UK has rejected a customs and regulatory border down the Irish Sea, in addition to its intention to leave the EU single market and the customs union.

Speaking along the European Council chief, Varadkar said that he was waiting for "further detailed progress to be put forward" by his UK counterpart Theresa May.



He warned that if the UK did not "translate into legal terms the principle and guarantees agreed in December" to avoid a hard border, there should be "a backstop of maintaining full alignment in Northern Ireland" with the rules of the single market and custom unions.

Tusk also dashed UK's hope to include financial services in the future relation agreement, as demanded by UK's chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond on Wednesday.

'Services are not about tariffs'

Hammond had said that it was "hard to see how any deal that did not include services could look like a fair and balanced settlement."

"We should all be clear that also when it comes to financial services, life will be different after Brexit," Tusk said.

He explained that the EU "can offer trade in goods" but not in services, because "services are not about tariffs. Services are about common rules, common supervision, and common enforcement."

He added that for the EU, the issue was about ensuring a level playing field, the integrity of the single market, "and ultimately also to ensure financial stability."

"I fully respect the chancellor's competence in defining what's in the UK's interest. I would, however, ask to allow us to define what's in the EU's interest," he said about Hammond's demands.

Britain wants uniquely deep deal with EU

The UK prime minister's third speech on Brexit was the clearest yet on what she wants after Brexit, but still lacked new ideas on resolving some differences, especially on Northern Ireland.

Brexit deal in jeopardy as May refuses EU's Irish option

The EU is growing increasingly frustrated with the UK, as London is struggling to spell out a vision for the future. In the meantime, the Irish border issue could blow up the Brexit negotiations - again.

'Decisive step' in Brexit ahead of EU summit

The UK and the EU have reached a legal agreement on citizens' rights and the financial settlement, but with still little progress on the future of the Irish border.

Opinion

How much can we trust Russian opinion polls on the war?

The lack of Russian opposition to the Russo-Ukrainian War is puzzling. The war is going nowhere, Russian casualties are staggering, the economy is in trouble, and living standards are declining, and yet polls indicate that most Russians support the war.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. How German business interests have shaped EU climate agenda
  2. The EU-Turkey migration deal is dead on arrival at this summit
  3. Sweden worried by EU visa-free deal with Venezuela
  4. Spain denies any responsibility in Melilla migrant deaths
  5. How much can we trust Russian opinion polls on the war?
  6. Banning PFAS 'forever chemicals' may take forever in Brussels
  7. EU Parliament joins court case against Hungary's anti-LGBTI law
  8. Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us