MNI SOURCES: Secrecy Hangs Over EU, Ireland Border Talks

-EU Source: No Realistic Alternative To Hard Irish Border If No Deal

By David Thomas

     BRUSSELS(MNI) - Talks this week between the leaders of Ireland, France and

Germany over customs controls on the island of Ireland in the event of a no-deal

Brexit will be kept as secret as possible, in order to avoid encouraging UK

parliamentarians in favour of leaving the EU, an EU source said.

     Berlin and Paris are seeking assurances from Dublin that customs controls

will be put in place to "ensure the integrity" of the EU single market as the

Irish Republic tries to avoid any formal border with Northern Ireland.

     Such arrangements, should they become public, would be likely to reinforce

the Brexiteer and Democratic Unionist Party contention that 'alternative

arrangements' can replace the backstop insurance scheme to avoid a hard border

on the island.

     "If there is no deal, we can't have a border but we must have controls. The

Irish will have to commit to protecting the integrity of the Single Market in

some way, so France and Germany are looking for assurances," the source said.

     Talks between Ireland the European Commission are highly sensitive and the

discussions are being closely guarded even from officials of many EU27 member

states, given the fear of media leaks.

     "We can't discuss this in public because the DUP will say, 'why do we need

a border when the Irish have said that they won't be putting up a border?"

     A second EU source insisted that concerns were more focused on domestic

public opinion in the Irish Republic.

     "The fact is that there would be no alternative to a hard border or some

kind of border controls and - up to now - they (the Irish population) have been

told them there will be no border."

     The same source admitted that Ireland would be a potential 'smugglers'

haven' for a while but that eventually a border between north and south would

have to be implemented.

     Meanwhile preparations for next week's EU summit discussions are also being

kept under wraps, said the source. EU summit conclusions tend to be drafted in

advance and often leak ahead of the actual meetings. Not so this time, with

officials expecting any resolution to come about in talks between the leaders on

the day - or more likely the night.

     "Normally, these are pretty much 'pre-cooked', but this time the

discussions were so sensitive we said that we just have to leave it to the

leaders."

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3829; email: jason.webb@marketnews.com

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