Theresa May rejects Michel Barnier’s Irish border plan
Theresa May is set to shoot down Brussels' attempt to diffuse the Northern Ireland border row amid claims the EU's plan would still divide the UK.
The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has been seeking to "de-dramatise" the issue of how to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland if no trade deal is agreed between the UK and Brussels.
The EU believes Northern Ireland should effectively stay part of the Single Market and customs union to prevent a hard border being created, with checks on goods being carried out on mainland Britain.
May has described this as unacceptable as it would put a customs border between one part of the UK and another – leading to a stalemate between the two negotiating teams.
Barnier said on Tuesday he was "ready to improve" his offer to the UK by conceding that customs checks could take place in factories and forecourts away from the border.
But according to the Financial Times, an ally of May has dimissed this proposal, saying: "There is nothing new here."
Ahead of an informal gathering of EU leaders in Salzburg, Austria, on Wednesday afternoon, May used an article in the German newspaper Die Welt to appeal for fresh-thinking on the border issue.
She wrote: “To come to a successful conclusion, just as the UK has evolved its position, the EU will need to do the same," before adding: “Neither side can demand the unacceptable of the other, such as an external customs border between different parts of the United Kingdom.”
May will also appeal directly to EU leaders over dinner on Wednesday evening, asking them to imagine how they would feel if their country was effectively "carved up".
The Irish border issue is threatening to thwart the signing off of the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU.
Without that document agreed, the two sides are unable to strike a trade deal, raising the risk of the UK leaving the EU on World Trade Organisation terms in March 2019.
Speaking ahead of the Salzburg summit, European Council President Donald Tusk called for the UK's position on the Irish border to be "reworked".
He announced an additional summit would be scheduled for mid-November to give the two sides more time to negotiate.