Full EU market access for UK would require free labor movement: Irish finance minister

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The United Kingdom is unlikely to secure full access to the European Union's single market unless it allows unrestricted access to its labor market for EU citizens, Ireland's Finance Minister said on Monday. Pro-Brexit British politician Boris Johnson said on Sunday that Britain could secure full access without signing up to free movement elements when it leaves the 28-nation EU following last week's referendum. As the only EU country with a land border with the United Kingdom, Ireland is likely to play an important role in negotiations. "From the precedent it doesn't look as if that option is open, but I can see why he [Johnson] is saying it [because] even though the positions are contradictory, that's what he campaigned on" Michael Noonan told journalists at a conference in Dublin. "The precedent in Norway was that when they got access to the full market, they had to pay the levies that countries pay to the European Union and as well as that they had to give free labor market access," he said. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Catherine Evans)