European Council President Donald Tusk emphasized that the Irish border issue is a top priority in Brexit negotiation. He said that “if in London someone assumes that the negotiations will deal with other issues first, before moving to the Irish issue, my response would be: Ireland first.” And he warned that “as long as the UK doesn’t present such a solution” regarding a soft border in Ireland, it is very difficult to imagine substantive progress in Brexit negotiations”.
In addition, Tusk explained that “services are not about tariffs. Services are about common rules, common supervision and common enforcement to ensure a level playing field, to ensure the integrity of the single market and, ultimately, also to ensure financial stability. This is why we cannot offer the same in services as we can offer in goods. It’s also why FTAs don’t have detailed rules for financial services.” That is, financial services will be bluntly excluded from the Brexit deal.
