EU28 foreign ministers arriving at a meeting in Luxembourg this morning have been speaking about Brexit following yesterday's dramatic breakdown in the negotiations. Here's what they had to say 👇
Jeremy Hunt, UK: ‘This is obviously a difficult period. It was always going to be a moment like this. There are one or two very difficult outstanding issues but I think we can get there. Whether we do this week or not who knows but I know everyone is trying incredibly hard.’
Hunt adds: ‘Theresa May will never sign a deal that is not compatible with the letter and spirit of the referendum result, but we also firmly believe that we can find a deal on that basis that works for the EU and our partners and friends in Europe.’
Simon Coveney, Ireland: ‘Negotiating teams agreed to disengage until after this week's Council meeting. That's frustrating and disappointing from an Irish perspective as the country that's more exposed to the fallout of Brexit than any other obviously outside of the UK itself.'
Coveney adds: 'A backstop can't be time-limited. That's new, it hasn't been there before - nobody was suggesting in March a backstop would be time-limited in terms of picking a date in the future as an end point. Backstop will be there unless and until something else is agreed.'
Coveney says: ‘I believe Theresa May is absolutely genuine. To her credit she's trying to deal with the complexity of Britain's responsibilities shared with Ireland towards peace process at the same time as delivering a Brexit that British people voted for. We want to help her.'
Josep Borrell, Spain: 'In Europe agreements never come before the end of the time. We don’t have to dramatise, we still have one month. It’s difficult for me to believe that we will not be able to reach an agreement - it’s too difficult, too hard for both parts.'
Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia: 'I really hope that we will be closer to a deal by the end of this week. I still believe that there is enough responsibility on both sides to understand that no deal would be the worst outcome for everyone. There’s no reason to panic.'
Karin Kneissl, Austria: 'We're speaking of 10-15% that are in limbo and it's the crucial question about the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. a lot depends to which extent the British Government and Barnier can obtain a rapprochement.'
Carmelo Abela, Malta: 'We need to keep hope in these discussions. We need to understand each other better but more importantly the EU has rules and regulations that have to be abided. It's time not to be nervous but to engage even further.'
