Britain, EU reach divorce terms
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May says a draft divorce agreement with the EU “takes us significantly closer to delivering what the British people voted for”.
May called a special cabinet meeting after negotiators from Britain and the EU broke a months-long logjam and reached agreement on divorce terms, including a plan to keep the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland open after Brexit.
Pro-Brexit MPs in May’s Conservative Party say the agreement will leave Britain tethered to the EU and unable to forge an independent trade policy.
May’s supporters argue that the deal is the best on offer, and the alternatives are a chaotic “no-deal” Brexit that would cause huge disruption to people and businesses, or an election that could see the Conservative government replaced by the Labour Party.
Failure to secure cabinet backing will leave May’s leadership in doubt and the Brexit process in chaos, with exit day just over four months away.
If the cabinet supports the deal, it needs approval from the EU at a summit in the next few weeks. Then May will need to win backing from parliament, where pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators alike are threatening to oppose it. The main obstacle to a withdrawal agreement has long been how to ensure there are no customs posts or other checks along the border between the UK’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.
The draft accord reached between the EU and Britain envisages a July 2020 decision on what would have to be done to safeguard an open Irish border after the post-Brexit transition, if a new trade deal is not in place.
If not, Britain would have two choices. One would be extending the transition period beyond 2020, possibly until the end of 2021. The other would be going into a “bare-bones” customs arrangement that would cover all of the UK, but in which Northern Ireland would be aligned more closely with the EU’s customs rules and production standards.
The proposed solution involves a common customs arrangement for the UK and the EU, to eliminate the need for border checks, with some provisions that are specific to Northern Ireland. The solution is intended to be temporary, but pro-Brexit politicians fear it may become permanent, hampering Britain’s ability to strike new trade deals around the world.
May also faces growing opposition from pro-EU politicians, who say her proposed deal is worse than the status quo and the British public should get a new vote on whether to leave or to stay.