Brexit: EU document suggests Common Travel Area to remain

The draft EU negotiating guidelines, which set out the EU's approach to the Brexit talks that will shortly begin with the UK, suggest the EU will accept the continuation of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK.

This has been a key aim of the Irish Government since the referendum last year, and will preserve the rights of Irish people to travel freely, live and work in the UK after Brexit, and of UK citizens to do the same in Ireland.

The document also stresses the need to protect the peace process which it says is of “paramount importance” and says the “unique circumstances” in Ireland mean a return to a hard Border should be avoided.

The language used about Ireland, and the specific references to the common travel area, the peace process and Border will be welcomed by the Government in Dublin, which has mounted a sustained diplomatic and political campaign in recent months to have Ireland’s special interests reflected in this document.

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Speaking to The Irish Times this morning, Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said that the document was "as good as could have been hoped for" from an Irish perspective, and paid tribute to the work of diplomats and officials in recent months.

Mr Flanagan also pointed to the similar references in the statements and speeches of the British prime minister Theresa May as evidence that the Irish position would receive special attention in the Brexit negotiations to come.

The draft negotiating guidelines, which have been circulated by the European Council president Donald Tusk to member states this morning, will form the basis for the EU's opening position in the Brexit negotiations.

They will the fleshed out by diplomats and political teams in Brussels and in the member state capitals over the coming weeks, and will be adopted at a special summit of EU leaders in Brussels at the end of April.

The document circulated this morning is a relatively brief statement of principles, running to 26 paragraphs. Paragraph 11 deals with the Irish situation and reads as follows: “The Union has consistently supported the goal of peace and reconciliation enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, and continuing to support and protect the achievements, benefits and commitments of the Peace Process will remain of paramount importance.

"In view of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required, including with the aim of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the Union legal order. In this context, the union should also recognise existing bilateral agreements and arrangements between the United Kingdom and Ireland which are compatible with EU law."

Though there are briefer references in the document to the position of British military bases in Cyprus and to Gibraltar, no other country is singled out in this fashion.