The EU intends to continue working with the UK to avoid a “hard” Brexit, said Tutti Tuppurainen, representative of the Finnish presidency of the EU Council, at a hearing in the European Parliament.
“So far, the new proposals do not constitute the basis for reaching an agreement. However, the EU is fully committed to working with the United Kingdom and avoiding Brexit without an agreement”, – she said.
The secession agreement, that is, the terms of the “divorce” of the country and the union, was worked out in difficult negotiations with the EU by the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, who resigned amid failures with Brexit. The backstop provisions – the border of Northern Ireland and the EU country Ireland, which is located on the same island with Northern Ireland, have been and remain a stumbling block in the agreement. The EU has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to change the “divorce” agreement, but may consider some proposals for correcting the situation that would fit into the outline of this agreement.