Britain has come up with “nothing credible” to replace the controversial Irish backstop in its deal to leave the EU, Ireland’s foreign minister said Friday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants the backstop -- the fallback provisions for the border between EU member Ireland and UK-ruled Northern Ireland -- to be scrapped completely.
With the clock ticking down to the October 31 departure date and Johnson insisting he will not postpone, the EU is pressing Britain to come up with workable alternatives.
“We all want to get a deal but at the moment nothing credible has come from the British government in the context of an alternative to the backstop,” Simon Coveney said as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki.
“If that changes, great. We’ll look at it in Dublin but more importantly, it can be the basis of a discussion in Brussels but it’s got to be credible.” After talks with his British counterpart Dominic Raab on the sidelines of the Helsinki meeting, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said London must come up with ideas soon.
“I have once again made it clear that it is now necessary for time reasons to put the (proposals) on the table as soon as possible,” Maas told reporters.