Irish officials make case to Brussels to secure common travel

The sudden resignation of Britain's most senior diplomat in Brussels has raised fears among politicians and officials in Dublin that a hard Brexit is increasingly likely.

Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain's ambassador to the EU, resigned yesterday amid divisions with Downing Street over Britain's approach to forthcoming negotiations on the UK's departure from the EU.

In a message to staff, reported by the BBC last night, Sir Ivan urged his former colleagues not to hesitate to speak truth to power.

“I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power.

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“I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them.”

Irish politicians and senior officials said that the departure of Sir Ivan, who had warned that exiting the EU could take 10 years to negotiate and was criticised by pro-Brexit campaigners, was a sign that Britain was more likely to move towards a hard Brexit.

A hard Brexit deal would likely leave the UK without full access to both the single market and EU customs union. A soft Brexit would leave relations between the UK and EU as close as possible to the current arrangements.

The Irish Times has learned that Irish officials have held a number of meetings with the European Commission’s Brexit negotiators in recent weeks to discuss the future of the common travel area (CTA) after Britain leaves the EU.

At a meeting in Brussels on December 16th, the Irish delegation said maintaining free movement between Ireland and Britain would have no adverse consequences for other member states and would not violate any EU rules.

According to an internal commission report, the meeting was attended by 11 Irish officials drawn from the Departments of the Taoiseach, Justice, Social Protection and Foreign Affairs as well as four members of the commission's Brexit negotiating unit, led by deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand.

It was the second time Irish officials had discussed the common travel area with the commission’s Brexit team, according to the report. It was due to be followed the same day by a session on would-be customs arrangements between Ireland and the UK after Brexit.

The Irish delegation asked the commission negotiators “to reassure other member states that Ireland is not ‘pre-negotiating’ nor is it enjoying any special relationship. Ireland is part of EU 27 and will negotiate as EU 27”, the report said.

Reflections

The Irish delegation outlined the historical, political and legal background to the travel area. The commission report said it appeared that the Government had made advanced reflections on the consequences of Brexit.

“In particular, they have screened the CTA arrangements and juxtaposed them with a variety of EU obligations.

“[The Irish] delegation assured [the commission] that they have not found any inconsistency,” the report said.

It quotes an Irish official as suggesting that, although Britain was making a similar analysis, it was not as far advanced as Ireland’s.