The British government has conceded that questions concerning the border with Northern Ireland and UK will probably not be resolved until 2020 , by which date the UK 's Taoiseach withdrawal agreement is set to be finalised. However, the British proposals have been rejected by the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, who said while the EU was prepared to make special arrangements for Northern Ireland, it was not prepared to extend them to the UK as whole, as this would amount to British “cherrypicking” – where the UK takes the benefits of the single market without applying its rules. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there had not been "sufficient progress" and negotiations needed to be intensified "in the period ahead". The EU 's chief negotiator Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently rejected the idea of a backstop agreement extending to the whole of the UK after the transition period ended in 2020 .
The British government has conceded that questions concerning the border with Northern Ireland and UK will probably not be resolved until 2020 , by which date the UK 's Taoiseach withdrawal agreement is set to be finalised. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there had not been "sufficient progress" and negotiations needed to be intensified "in the period ahead". The EU 's chief negotiator Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently rejected the idea of a backstop agreement extending to the whole of the UK after the transition period ended in 2020 .