<p class="title">Europe does not want to impose a hard border on Ireland, a spokesman insisted on Wednesday, one day after he warned this would be inevitable after any "no deal" Brexit.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Tuesday, EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas had triggered concern in Dublin when he said the Irish border with Northern Ireland would have to be enforced.</p>.<p class="bodytext">If Britain leaves the European Union on March 29 without a withdrawal deal, the north-south border will become an external EU frontier, subject to customs controls.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Irish government, however, insists it will not install "physical infrastructure" on a border that has been invisible since the Good Friday peace agreement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">EU officials say they stand in solidarity with Ireland, and that Britain must accept a divorce with a "backstop" to keep Northern Ireland in the same customs zone.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Schinas' comment on Tuesday, confirming that if the British parliament rejects the backstop then the border will return, was seen as putting pressure on Dublin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Wednesday, he welcomed an opportunity at a news conference to rephrase his comments.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The EU is determined to do all it can, deal or no deal, to avoid the need for a border and to protect peace in Northern Ireland," Schinas said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The EU is fully behind Ireland and we have expressed on numerous occasions full solidarity with Ireland. That has not changed," he continued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We will also continue to remind the government of the United Kingdom of its responsibilities under the Good Friday agreement, deal or no deal."</p>.<p class="bodytext">This was different in tone from what he had said a day earlier when asked about a no deal: "I think it is pretty obvious: you will have a hard border."</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the official did not fully withdraw this warning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"At the same time Ireland and the EU have responsibilities as regards the protection of the single market and of the customs union," he said Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A product that enters Northern Ireland coming from another part of the United Kingdom enters the single market as a whole."</p>
<p class="title">Europe does not want to impose a hard border on Ireland, a spokesman insisted on Wednesday, one day after he warned this would be inevitable after any "no deal" Brexit.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Tuesday, EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas had triggered concern in Dublin when he said the Irish border with Northern Ireland would have to be enforced.</p>.<p class="bodytext">If Britain leaves the European Union on March 29 without a withdrawal deal, the north-south border will become an external EU frontier, subject to customs controls.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Irish government, however, insists it will not install "physical infrastructure" on a border that has been invisible since the Good Friday peace agreement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">EU officials say they stand in solidarity with Ireland, and that Britain must accept a divorce with a "backstop" to keep Northern Ireland in the same customs zone.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Schinas' comment on Tuesday, confirming that if the British parliament rejects the backstop then the border will return, was seen as putting pressure on Dublin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Wednesday, he welcomed an opportunity at a news conference to rephrase his comments.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The EU is determined to do all it can, deal or no deal, to avoid the need for a border and to protect peace in Northern Ireland," Schinas said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The EU is fully behind Ireland and we have expressed on numerous occasions full solidarity with Ireland. That has not changed," he continued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We will also continue to remind the government of the United Kingdom of its responsibilities under the Good Friday agreement, deal or no deal."</p>.<p class="bodytext">This was different in tone from what he had said a day earlier when asked about a no deal: "I think it is pretty obvious: you will have a hard border."</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the official did not fully withdraw this warning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"At the same time Ireland and the EU have responsibilities as regards the protection of the single market and of the customs union," he said Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A product that enters Northern Ireland coming from another part of the United Kingdom enters the single market as a whole."</p>