POLITICO: European Parliament would veto Brexit deal without backstop, say MEPs

24 January 2019

Senior EU legislators say they would not consent to a deal that does not contain an insurance against a hard border in Northern Ireland.

The European Parliament will veto any revised Brexit Withdrawal Agreement that does not contain a Northern Ireland backstop, according to a statement issued Thursday by the legislature's Brexit Steering Group (BSG).

In an intervention aimed at Brexiteers in the U.K. who say they will only back the deal if the backstop is removed, the group, led by Guy Verhofstadt, the Parliament's Brexit coordinator, made clear that the current Withdrawal Agreement is "fair and cannot be renegotiated."

The backstop is a necessary part of the agreement, the BSG statement reads, because "it is the guarantee that under no circumstances will there be a hardening of the border on the island of Ireland while at the same time safeguarding the integrity of the Single Market."

"The EU remains clear, firm and united on this even if the negotiated backstop is not meant to be used," the MEPs argue. "Therefore, the BSG insists that, without such an 'all-weather' backstop-insurance, the European Parliament will not give its consent to the Withdrawal Agreement." [...]

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