The Brexit impasse could be resolved through an “interpretive document” to provide the U.K. with additional assurances that the Irish backstop would be temporary, said EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
In a wide-ranging interview with Die Welt, Barnier also said extending Brexit negotiations beyond the March 29 deadline should not be to “postpone a problem” but to solve it.
With Brexiteers in the House of Commons saying they won’t back Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal if there is no time limit on the controversial Northern Ireland backstop, Barnier reiterated that the EU27 “will not allow a time limit or a one-sided exit right.”
The EU insists that the backstop arrangement — designed to prevent the need for a hard border in all circumstances — is necessary for a deal and EU leaders have said consistently that the Withdrawal Agreement hammered out in November last year cannot be reopened.
But Barnier highlighted an alternative to solving the problem: “The commitment to limit the backstop through an agreement on the future relationship. And this in the form of an interpretive document.” It may take similar form to the January letter from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk reassuring the British people that they intend for the backstop to be temporary.
“If this document were combined with a written commitment from the British, then obviously it would have a much greater power,” said Barnier, who said further details about the document’s form would come after its substance is nailed down.
Brexiteers in the House of Commons have also shown a willingness to accept a solution that does not involve reopening the Withdrawal Agreement but they want legally binding assurances that the the backstop has a time limit or a unilateral exit clause.
An extension of the Brexit negotiations which is looking increasingly likely would be an “extension of insecurity for citizens and businesses on both sides.” However, Barnier predicted the EU27 would agree to more time, if the U.K. can answer the question, “What for?”
Such a decision could only come with just a week to go until the planned Brexit date, Barnier confirmed. With the U.K. parliament potentially being given a vote on extending the Article 50 negotiating period on March 14, the next opportunity to get unanimous sign-off from national leaders would be the March 21 European Council summit in Brussels, he said.
Nonetheless, Barnier said he is optimistic that Brexit will happen on time, with a deal, despite weeks of stalled negotiations since Westminster rejected May’s deal in January by a historic margin. “It seems to me that something is moving,” he said, suggesting that skeptical MPs would come round to the deal when it is brought back for a second meaningful vote before March 12.
The EU’s Brexit negotiator also said that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had given him advance warning of his decision to move the opposition party squarely behind a second referendum when they met on 21 February — four days before the decision was made public.
“Jeremy Corbyn sat at this table last week and told me that he would announce support for a second vote,” Barnier said. “I cannot say if there will be such a vote at all, whether enough MPs would vote for it. That is not my basis. I only work on objective fundamentals.”