North stays in customs union in new Brexit deal
Three options put forward on Border issue
NORTHERN Ireland will be part of the EU customs territory after Brexit under a new deal.
The draft deal agreed to protect the Irish Border outlines the “backstop” if no better plan is forthcoming.
The plan will be published in Brussels today as round two of Ireland’s Brexit war with Britain is set to begin.
The release will be politically explosive and threatens to destabilise relations among all parties involved.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is trying to renege on a British promise to ensure the Border remains seamless.
In a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May, he goes as far as saying a hard Border is now a serious possibility.
NORTHERN Ireland may be considered part of the European Union customs territory post-Brexit.
The draft deal agreed to protect the Irish Border will be published in Brussels today as round two of Ireland’s Brexit war with Britain is set to begin.
The release of the draft treaty will be politically explosive and threatens to destabilise relations among all parties involved.
The document spells out in detail the so-called backstop for avoiding a hard Border when Britain is no longer a member of the EU.
The exact text – which will be legally binding when signed – will say “Northern Ireland shall be considered to be part of the customs territory of the European Union”.
Essentially, in the event of no better arrangement, the EU’s customs union will cover the whole island of Ireland and will be jointly managed by the EU and the UK.
It will also require Northern Ireland to maintain single market rules on any goods crossing the Border. “There has to be a common regulatory area between Northern Ireland and the rest of the EU,” a source said.
This alone will trigger dissent and objection among Brexiteers – not least the DUP, who UK Prime Minister Theresa May relies upon to stay in power.
Both Irish and EU officials are bracing themselves for the backlash, which once again raises the spectre of Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal. “All eyes are on the British reaction because it all depends on how much they reject it,” said a source.
It comes at the same time as Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary, is trying to renege on a British promise to ensure the Irish Border with the North remains seamless.
In a letter written to Mrs May, Mr Johnson says “it is wrong to see the task as maintaining ‘no Border’” on the island of Ireland after Brexit.
He also said the government’s priority should instead be to “stop this Border becoming significantly harder”.
Mr Johnson goes as far as taking for granted that a hard Border is now a serious possibility, saying: “Even if a hard Border is reintroduced, we would expect to see 95pc-plus of goods pass the Border [without] checks.”
The letter was leaked to Sky News on the eve of the publication of the 100-page first draft of the UK’s withdrawal agreement. This will be Britain’s legal contract for leaving the EU.
In the preamble of the treaty, it outlines its purpose as, among other things, protecting the Good Friday Agreement and giving legal effect to a commitment by London to come up with solutions to avoiding the need for a hard Border.
The provisions specifically related to Ireland will take the form of a protocol integrated into the main withdrawal treaty. It will recall that in December, three options were outlined for dealing with this priority.
Option A is where Britain and the EU’s relationship remains as close as it is now, thereby negating the need for Border checks. This is unlikely to occur because Britain says it is leaving the customs union and the single market. Option B is for a solution to emerge through the use of a range of technical apparatus such as camera, barcodes and registration.
Since no detail has been forthcoming by Britain on either, the draft treaty contains no detail on them.
However, it goes in to full explanation how Option C, or the backstop option, requires Northern Ireland to continue to follow EU rules and regulations of the single market and customs union. This would be necessary to protect cross -Border co-operation and the all-island economy.
EU and Irish sources are at pains to insist that this option is the one all sides least prefer, and they are willing and open to exploring other options.