EU Ombudsman says Brexit report on NI should be published
EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has defended her call on the European Commission to publish a key document about North-South cooperation underpinned by the EU, saying it is important that citizens be as informed as possible.
The confidential document spells out all the areas of North-South cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement that are at risk because of Brexit and deals with the so-called mapping exercise, which was a key part of the Irish Government's strategy to highlight the risks to the Good Friday Agreement.
The mapping exercise highlights the extent to which North-South cooperation relies upon, or is enhanced by, mutual EU membership by both Ireland and the UK.
Ms O’Reilly told RTE’s Morning Ireland that there was “nothing inherently secret” about the details and that anyone who took the time to do the research could have found the details “in a few hours”.
However, both the European Commission and the British government, which technically had ownership of the document, refused to publish it because the negotiations around the Irish backstop were so sensitive. It was feared that publishing it would have an impact "on the serenity of the negotiations."
Now that the negotiations have concluded, Ms O’Reilly said she believes it is in the public interest for the documents to be released.
“It is very important the people be aware of the importance of EU law in relation to North-South cooperation,” she said.
The mapping exercise was carried out by the British government in the summer and autumn of 2017 at the request of the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier. British, Irish and EU officials explored all aspects of North-South cooperation and discovered there were 150 areas which were underpinned by EU law.
In January a complainant had asked the European Commission to publish the document, but the Commission refused on the grounds that the document was effectively the property of the UK and that the British government wanted it to remain confidential.
After several attempts to have the mapping exercise published, the complainant turned to the EU Ombudsman, on the grounds that the Brexit negotiations were supposed to be transparent, and that the public had a right to know what areas of North-South cooperation would be at risk because of Brexit.
According to Ms O'Reilly's investigation, the Commission had argued that "the disclosure of the requested document, which originated from the UK government, against the UK's express wishes, would undermine the trust between the UK and the Commission at a sensitive time in the negotiations."
Ms O'Reilly, who was given access to the document, told the complainant in her report that it covered "a wide array of cross-border topics such as trade, animal health, tourism, the environment, cross-border fraud prevention, the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and farming."
