May in move to end stalemate on border
Brexit plan keeps UK aligned to Single Market rules
BRITAIN’S border solution will propose keeping the whole of the UK aligned with Single Market rules on trade and create a new customs arrangement with the EU, the Irish Daily Mail understands.
But while the proposals would be welcomed by the Irish Government, they are likely to be unacceptable to the EU27 task force, who will view it as a form of ‘cherry-picking.’
The proposal, reported as being ‘imminent’ yesterday, has essentially refined the EU’s legal translation of the ‘backstop’ – dismissed out of hand by Theresa May as something ‘no UK Prime Minister could agree to’ – to make it more palatable to the DUP and Brexiteer MPs.
To do this she must convince her Cabinet that those plans ‘are not as stark as originally thought’, according to a source close to the talks.
Brexiteers balked at the European Commission’s draft legal text on the backstop that would have considered Northern Ireland ‘part of the customs territory’ of the EU.
The idea was shot down out of hand as it was viewed as creating a trade barrier within the UK, between Northern Ireland and rest of the country, which had been ruled out by the DUP in the December joint report.
The new proposals aim to appease the DUP by avoiding any distinction between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, keeping them all aligned to a subset of Single Market rules, specifically on trade and services.
A wider customs partnership which has been mooted for some time would also form part of any deal. The UK will argue that this will best serve the interests of Ireland, the EU and Britain. Northern Ireland and the Republic would have a shared customs border, maintaining the current status quo and removing the need for a new internal border.
Meanwhile, the UK would continue to police its border as though it were an EU customs border, while using technological solutions to track goods and determine what tariffs should be paid on them.
The pressure on the UK to secure the transition period by delivering workable border proposals by June will be hammered home to Brexiteer MPs, and Mrs May already acknowledged in her Mansion House speech, of earlier this month, that they will have to accept concessions.
The UK prime minister will be hoping that hardline Brexiteers will be amenable to the new proposals because they could achieve the aim of avoiding a hard border, while also leaving enough scope to negotiate new trade deals outside the EU. However, while it may win over Eurosceptics within her own Conservative party, it remains something Brussels is unlikely to accept.
‘Michel Barnier (chief EU negotiator) has said time and time again that any form of cherrypicking will not be tolerated and that’s not going to change’, an Irish Government source said.
Handing a trade advantage to the UK will be seen as completely unacceptable, as it may encourage other member states to leave the EU.
Proposals aim to appease the DUP