Coveney Says Brexit Talks Will Survive `Mounting Frustration'

(Bloomberg) -- Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said there’s too much at stake for negotiations on Brexit to fail, as the clock ticks towards the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU.

At a conference in Dublin on Thursday, Coveney said “hopefully” a Brexit withdrawal agreement will be reached in October. despite “mounting frustration” in talks. He also said that any plan for a UK/EU shared customs area is “welcome,” though work needed to go on the backstop to prevent checks on the Irish border following Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s inner Cabinet has agreed a plan to keep the U.K. aligned with the EU’s tariff rules for longer as a last resort measure designed to solve the intractable problem of the Irish border, according to people familiar with the matter. Ministers discussed the idea on Tuesday and are likely to propose it formally to European negotiators in Brussels in the coming weeks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net

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