Guy Verhofstadt meets Ireland’s Taioseach Leo Varadkar
ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt and European Parliament’s Brexit Coordinator, has welcomed today Irish Taioseach Leo Varadkar, to discuss the future relations with Ireland and the United Kingdom after Brexit.
After the meeting, he said:
“Today, I assured the Taoiseach that his Government and the Irish people have the unequivocal support of the European Parliament. We will never abandon Ireland. We will never prioritise the demands of a minority of Eurosceptic MPs from a departing Member State over the interests of an EU Member State.”
“The UK Parliament rejected the agreement reached, which was a compromise based on the UK’s own proposal, so it is the UK’s obligation to now propose a positive and viable proposal on the way forward. An enduring future EU — UK future partnership, can only be built on a strong and stable majority in the UK Parliament. For us, the Withdrawal Agreement is fair and cannot be replaced.“
“The European Parliament will never agree to any deal that excludes an “all-weather” backstop-insurance policy to avoid any hardening of the border on the Island of Ireland. This is vital to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the Peace Process. Political uncertainty in the UK has reinforced to us why this insurance policy is required. The EU remains clear, firm and united on this even if the negotiated backstop is not meant to be used.”
By: david.vidal@europarl.europa.eu
More news: www.alde.eu
