Irish Prime Minister sees chances to fall for Brexit deal in November

HELSINKI (Reuters) – The chances of signing an agreement on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union this month are fading, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday.

European leaders had already announced the holding of a summit in mid-November to sign any agreement on Brexit with London. Negotiators on both sides, however, remain in disagreement over ways to ensure that border controls at the border between Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland will not be reinstated.

"I think that every day that passes, the possibility of a special summit in November becomes less likely," Varadkar told reporters after meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila.

"But we have one on December 13 and 14, so not doing it in November does not mean we can not do it in the first two weeks of December. But I think beyond that you are in the new year, which would not be a good thing. "

As part of the withdrawal agreement, Brussels has proposed a "protection" scheme guaranteeing the opening of the border by keeping Northern Ireland in the Customs Union of the United Kingdom. And in a large part of the single market. Britain is complaining that this would create a border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

Varadkar met with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday to agree that any support should be temporary. May also told him that there should be a mechanism to stop it.

"For me, it's always about goal, more than about mechanism – what are you really trying to achieve," Varadkar said Wednesday. "We hope that the backstop will never need to be used, it is an insurance policy.

Varadkar said he was ready to consider a review clause attached to the bullet-proof, but that this could not allow Britain to unilaterally withdraw and leave a rigid border.

Varadkar is in Helsinki to attend the two-day Congress of the European People's Party.