PARIS: The French foreign minister has said there could be no à la carte access to the single market for the UK after it leaves the European Union.
Speaking following a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, Jean-Marc Ayrault appeared to take a hard line on the question of whether there would be a soft or hard border on the island of Ireland post-Brexit.
Asked if he believed there should be a hard border between the UK and the rest of the EU, which, after Brexit, would be on the island of Ireland, Mr Ayrault said membership of the single market carried with it strict obligations.
Following an hour long meeting with Mr Flanagan at the French Foreign Ministry, Mr Ayrault said: “The single market means access under a contract, under rules which apply. It’s not à la carte. There are social rules, regulations, rules on the environment, obligations for all the members of the single market. And then there’s the free movement of people.”
Officials have suggested that if the UK is outside the single market and the customs union then there would be a risk that British exports, which would not be subject to EU rules and regulations, could undermine the single market if they flowed from Northern Ireland via the Republic. The French foreign minister did, however, say that France would be “attentive” to Ireland’s unique situation regarding Brexit.
“On one hand you have the specific Irish situation. We are aware of that.,” said Mr Ayrault. “We acknowledge everything Ireland has been able to do in its history to resolve the conflicts, to overcome difficulties in an intelligent and responsible way.
“It is an extraordinary arrangement that Ireland wants to preserve, and France is particularly attentive that this situation be preserved for the Irish people.”
Mr Flanagan said there was an “understanding, an appreciation, a full acknowledgment” of the what he called the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland regarding the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement, the free movement of people, the warming of relations between north and south, and between Britain and Ireland.
However, Mr Flanagan ruled out any question that the Irish government would support the referral of Article 50 by the Irish courts to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg over the question of its reversibility.
