Ireland calls for 'middle ground' in UK-EU food standards talks

DUBLIN- Ireland would like Britain and the European Union to find a "middle ground" in talks on aligning food standards that could reduce checks on food imports from Britain to Northern Ireland by 80%, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Sunday.

Coveney said the European Union had been asking for a commitment from Britain to remain aligned to EU standards but that the British government instead wanted Brussels to recognise that UK standards were equivalent to EU standards.

"I think the challenge is to find a middle ground there. That is perhaps independently monitored," Coveney said in an interview with RTE radio.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries Editing by David Goodman ) ((conor.humphries@thomsonreuters.com; +353 1 236 1915;))