PARIS: France on Monday warned Britain against seeking to revisit key parts of the deal on its exit from the European Union, saying any undermining of trust would affect talks on London’s future relations with the bloc.
The foreign ministry said that the proper implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement for Brexit agreed in October 2019 was a “question of trust” between the sides.
“If that trust is called into question, negotiations over the future relationship will be affected,” it said in a statement.
Britain said on Monday it was seeking to “clarify” key parts of its EU divorce deal setting off alarm bells after reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was planning new legislation that would override parts of the deal he signed last year.
The government said it was taking steps to make clear how Northern Ireland’s trade will be handled after Brexit, but insisted it remained committed to its EU withdrawal agreement and the province’s peace process. President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter on Monday he had had “very good” telephone talks with Johnson on issues including Britain’s future relationship with the EU but did not give further details.
Downing Street said that in the talks the two men “agreed on the importance of making progress this month and reaching a conclusion on talks quickly.”
Ireland’s foreign minister too said Dublin should not overreact to reports that Britain may seek to undermine its Brexit withdrawal agreement but warned that such a move would be a very serious breach of trust and fundamentally undermine ongoing talks.
London is reportedly planning new legislation to override parts of the agreement and create frictions in British-ruled Northern Ireland where special arrangements had been made to avoid a hard border with Ireland to the south that could be detrimental to a peace agreement.
“Is this political gamesmanship or is there really a piece of legislation that’s going to emerge this week, which is contrary to the withdrawal agreement. We’ll have to wait and see,” Simon Coveney told national broadcaster RTE in an interview.
— Reuters
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