Breaking: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says Theresa May is "working hard" on the backstop issue and describes her as "very sincere" as he arrives alongside French President @EmmanuelMacron to the Salzburg summit h/t @NRKno @philip_lote
President Macron: : We listened yesterday to Theresa May. We all know the proposal made in Chequers. We will have a discussion with Mr Barnier. We have to remain united and consistent with what we want.
Macron: “I think Theresa May made some proposals. We have progress. But for sure what we need is a Withdrawal Agreement with the backstop for our Irish friends, and for the integrity of the whole single market.”
Varadkar: EU is very utd around our view that we need to protect the integrity of the single market + any Withdrawal Agreement, which we can achieve in the next couple of mths, must involve an Irish protocol, a guarantee that a hard border doesn’t emerge in Ireland.
Varadkar: I dont think we’ve made much progress since March. The EU has tabled its proposals which we find workable and legal. The UK has yet to table in writing alternative proposals, but PM May is working hard on that. I think she is very sincere and we’ll see what they produce
