It is being reported that the Irish Government will enter direct negotiations with the European Commission about a possible location for customs checks for cross-Border trade in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
As reported by the Irish Times, Táinaiste Simon Coveney told a business event yesterday that Ireland would not be dragged out of the single market as a result of Brexit.
“That means, in a no-deal Brexit scenario, finding a way to get an agreement with the European Commission to protect the integrity of the shared single market,” he said.
He explained that in order to avoid checks on Irish goods going to continental Europe, Ireland would be required to put checks on the southern side of the Border on goods coming from the North.
Preparations
“We face difficult choices in the context of how we introduce a checking system [on the southern side],” said the Tánaiste.
“[Checks must be introduced] somewhere away from the Border, for obvious reasons, to protect the integrity of the single market, and to reassure other countries we don’t have an open back door into the single market through Northern Ireland.”
He added that the negotiations are also in place to protect the peace process.
“We recognise the reality that Ireland will have a responsibility to protect its own place in the single market. That will involve some checks. But I can assure you we will try to do that in a way that limits the risk. And we will try and do it away from the Border.”
Coveney also criticised companies who were being “naive” in their Brexit preparations.
“There are 3,000 companies in Ireland with UK trade worth more than €100,000 annually who haven’t yet contacted Revenue for an EORI number (registration required to import or export with a non-EU country),” he said. “That’s madness.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
