EU’s chief Brexit negotiator says ‘difficult to see’ Irish border solution with Britain

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has said that it is “difficult to see” at present how an agreement can be reached to overcome an impasse over an Irish border arrangement that the new British government wants scrapped.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is insisting that the Irish backstop be dropped from the withdrawal agreement negotiated by his predecessor, which Brexit advocates worry would leave Britain too closely linked to the EU for too long.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier said after meeting Germany’s foreign minister in Berlin on Monday that “based on current UK thinking, it is difficult to see how we can arrive at a legally operative solution which fulfills all the objectives of the backstop.”

However, he added that “we remain open to talks and to progress” and will be “open and respectful.”