EU's Barnier calls down on time-limited backstop amid Brexit woes

A temporary safeguard to avoid erecting a physical border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit would serve no purpose, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Wednesday. In an interview to newspapers Le Monde, Rzeczpospolita and Luxemburger Wort, Barnier said the current backstop proposal over the border was the only option on the table. "The question of limiting the backstop in time has already been discussed twice by European leaders. This is the only possible option because insurance is of no use if it is time limited," Barnier said.