The EU ’s chief Brexit negotiator , Michel Barnier , has said that no withdrawal agreement for the UK will be reached without a “ - ” option for the Republic of Ireland , whereby either Ireland – or the UK – remains in a common regulatory area with the EU in order to prevent a hard split . At the beginning of the all-island Brexit forum in Dundalk, County Louth, Mr Barnier said he knows that the so-called backstop has been the subject of "heated discussions in the UK". Barnier said that the border is an EU problem , not just an Irish issue , and that the UK government had already committed to a backstop deal .
The EU ’s chief Brexit negotiator , Michel Barnier , has said that no withdrawal agreement for the UK will be reached without a “ - ” option for the Republic of Ireland , whereby either Ireland – or the UK – remains in a common regulatory area with the EU in order to prevent a hard split . Barnier said that the border is an EU problem , not just an Irish issue , and that the UK government had already committed to a backstop deal .