“Just because a British Parliament decides that British law says something doesn’t mean that that law applies to the other 27 countries of the European Union.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that Britain passing a law to prevent the extension of Brexit negotiations will not force the EU into making a deal.
Coveney said the end of 2020 deadline set by Britain was viewed at as “ambitious” but “unrealistic” by the EU.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, Coveney said there were far more aspects to any deal than just trade.
“We move into the next phase of Brexit which is really now to try to put in place a permanent future relationship that’s good for Britain but is also good for countries like Ireland and the rest of the European Union,” Coveney said.
“Our focus from an Irish perspective is to try to achieve the closest possible relationship between Britain and the EU.
“From a trade perspective from a political perspective, from a political perspective from a security perspective, from a data perspective, from an aviation perspective, you know, the list goes on and on and on. So when people talk about the future relationship in the UK in particular, they seem to only talk about a future trade agreement, actually there’s much more to this than that, there’s fishing, there’s aviation, there’s data and there’s so many other things.
“I know that Prime Minister Johnson has set a very ambitious timetable to get this done he’s even put it into British law, but just because a British Parliament decides that British law says something doesn’t mean that that law applies to the other 27 countries of the European Union.
“So the European Union will approach this on the basis of getting the best deal possible – a fair and balanced deal to ensure the EU and the UK can interact as friends in the future.
“But the EU will not be rushed on this just because Britain passes a law,” Coveney said.
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