This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

While negotiators frantically thrash around for a solution to the Irish border or a trade deal that will avoid economic armageddon, Jean-Claude Juncker has kept his eye on another big Brexit issue.

The European commission president, the proud owner of a pooch called Plato, has taken a personal interest in the fate of the pet passport scheme, under which animals in good health can be exempted from going into quarantine as they travel around Europe.

With a no-deal scenario looking increasingly likely, Mina Andreeva, a commission spokeswoman, disclosed that advice to pet owners would be published in the coming months, after Juncker highlighted the urgency of the matter “several times”.

Plato, who was rescued from a Greek island by a German organisation, lives with Juncker in his home country of Luxembourg, where, the commission president has joked, Plato ignores commands because he has yet to master French.

“This is indeed an important issue that we take seriously and will require preparedness,” Andreeva said.

“I think President Juncker, having personally mentioned the issue several times, then it is something that is very close to his heart, so we are not only for the free movement of people, but for the free movement of pets.”

Currently a dog, cat or even a pet ferret travelling from the UK to the EU and back again can do so without being quarantined, as long as they have a passport and have been microchipped.

The passports prove an animal has been vaccinated against rabies, had a blood test to check the inoculation has worked, and been dewormed.

But 250,000 British cats and dogs, and many more from the rest of Europe, may need to be locked up for a period each time they travel after Brexit, should the negotiations between the UK and EU end in failure. P&O Ferries alone carries more than 20,000 pets a year from Dover to Calais.

Last year, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, admitted: “A failure of the negotiations would have many consequences, including the ability of dogs and cats to cross the Channel.”

The UK environment secretary, Michael Gove, who owns a bichon frise called Snowy and a Lhasa Apso/wire-haired dachshund cross called Muffin, has insisted there will not be a problem, even if Brexit talks fail.