The European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator has said the commission will do its “utmost” to find a way to preserve the success of the Belfast Agreement in the forthcoming negotiations with the UK on exiting the European Union.

Amid growing indications that the commission will prioritise an agreement on Northern Ireland in the early stage of the Brexit talks, Michel Barnier said he was “personally extremely aware of the importance of this particular topic.”

Responding to a question from The Irish Times at his first press conference since his appointment as chief Brexit negotiator, the former French Commissioner recalled that he had responsibility for the EU’s peace programme for Northern Ireland when he was Commissioner for Regional Policy under the commission of Romano Prodi.

“The UK’s decision to leave the European Union will have consequences, in particular for what are the EU’s external borders today.

“All I can say is that I am personally extremely aware of the importance of this particular topic.

“We will, throughout these negotiations with the UK and of course with Ireland, do our utmost to find a way to preserve the success of the Good Friday process and of course retain the dialogue there. That’s all I can say now.”

Common travel area

There is growing expectation among officials that the common travel area between Britain and Ireland will be retained after Brexit, though the implications for the Border of a possible exit by the UK of the EU customs union is understood to be more complex.

Senior British government figures have indicated that the UK may leave the customs union in order to ensure the ability of the UK to negotiate free trade deals with other regions.

Mr Barnier, who was appointed by the commission’s president Jean-Claude Juncker in July, is leading a team of approximately 30 officials to lead technical negotiations by the commission, though that task-force is expected to expand once the negotiations proper begin.

In a sign of the tough task ahead for the UK, Mr Barnier warned that countries outside the European Union could not have the same benefits as EU member states.

“Being a member of the European Union comes with rights and benefits,” he said. “Third countries can never have the same rights and benefits since they are not subject to the same obligations.”

‘Article 50 reached by October 2018’

He said the priority was to “preserve the unity and the interests of the EU 27 in the Brexit negotiations. This determination is shared by all governments.”

He warned that “time is short” for striking a deal, noting that the actual time for negotiations would be shorter than the two-year framework set out under Article 50, the official exit mechanism for leaving the European Union.

Instead it is more likely to be 18 months, as the two-year time frame includes time for the European Council to set out its guidelines and to authorise the commencement of the negotiations.

“All in all there will be less than 18 months to negotiate. That is short. Should the UK notify by the end of March as prime minister Theresa May said she would, it is safe to say negotiations could start a few weeks later and an Article 50 reached by October 2018.”

Mr Barnier warned the UK against “cherry-picking” parts of EU membership.

“The single market and its four freedoms (which includes freedom of movement) are indivisible. Cherry picking is not an option,” he said.

Mr Barnier also refused to be drawn on the possibility of a transitional arrangement for the UK saying it was too early to say as this depended on the kind of long-term agreement the UK wanted to shape with the European Union.

He cited Norway as “one of the closes models there is of being close to the EU without being a member,” noting that Norway has access to the single market but pays specific contributions to the EU budget.

Earlier in Brussels, British chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond, in town for a finance ministers’ meeting, appeared to back his colleague David Davis’ suggestion that the UK could continue to contribute to the EU budget once it leaves.