As the Brexit negotiations heat up, we speak to the European Commissioner from the EU country likely to be most directly and decisively impacted: Ireland. Mairead McGuinness tells us that European unity on Brexit “persists and prevails” – despite a suggestion from France’s Europe minister that Paris could “veto” a deal it finds unsatisfactory.
“We have had so much unity on Brexit for this length of time and I believe that this unity persists and prevails… I think there are various member states which on various occasions make comments because they have specific sectors and specific issues that they need to address.”
With the talks now running out of time, the Financial Services commissioner says “as long as the parties remain talking to one another, I remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached, notwithstanding the fact that the issues that are unresolved have been unresolved for some time”.
“There is anxiety on all sides […] I think always in the end game of a negotiation, when things might appear to be going wrong, that’s the point when things move forward.”
