Nobody wants Britain to leave the European Union next week without a divorce agreement and EU leaders must be patient while talks continue in London, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said yesterday.
“We said that if the UK had not ratified the withdrawal agreement it should come forward with a clear plan for the way forward by next week or it would leave the European Union without a deal,” Varadkar told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dublin.
“This is an outcome that none of us want to see. Matters continue to play out in London and I think we need to be patient and understanding of the predicament they’re in. But of course any further extension must require and must have a credible and realistic way forward.”
Merkel said recent days had seen significant shifts in the discussion surrounding Brexit and she hoped this would let Prime Minister Theresa May present workable proposals to her fellow leaders next week.
Speaking after discussions with Varadkar, Merkel repeated that she would fight to the end for an orderly Brexit, and that under all circumstances “we must succeed” in preventing a hard border dividing Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland.
“We hope that intensive discussions in London can lead even by next Wednesday, when we will have our extraordinary summit, to a position that May can present to us, that we can then discuss.”
Meanwhile, it emerged that less than half of the 84,000 Irish companies that trade with Britain have applied for a customs number to continue doing so after Brexit, prompting the tax authority to warn they could be cut off if London leaves Europe without a deal.
Given close trading links to its nearest neighbour, Irish customs officials are braced for a 12-fold rise in the number of import and export declarations made by local companies if Britain leaves the European Union’s customs union.
With Britain at risk of crashing out of the EU as soon as next week, Ireland’s Office of the Revenue Commissioners and government urged firms to apply for an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number, which will be needed to continue to move goods to, from or through the UK.
“IMPORTANT: Businesses trading with UK will need an EORI customs number in a no deal #Brexit,” Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said on Twitter yesterday, one of a number of ministers to push the message on social media.
“Half of those who need it haven’t yet applied. The government cannot do it for you.”
The government said it would take firms just a few minutes to register online.