Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Brits turn in new exit plan to EU
MANCHESTER, England — Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain insisted Wednesday that he loved Europe, even as he presented officials in Brussels with a new, detailed plan to pull his country out of the European Union by the end of this month.
Johnson said Britain was offering a “reasonable compromise” on the vexing question of Ireland, and European Union officials said they would study his proposal. But the swift, negative response of Ireland’s leaders suggested that it would not draw the two sides any closer to an amicable divorce.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Johnson mixed an appeal to the anti-EU lawmakers in his party with a conciliatory tone toward the EU. He asked the EU to compromise, asserting that an orderly British exit could open a promising new relationship with Europe.
“It cannot be stressed too much that this is not an anti-European party, and it is not an anti-European country,”
Johnson said. “We love Europe. We are European.” When the audience fell silent, the prime minister added, “At least, I love Europe.”
Johnson also repeated his vow to lead Britain out of the EU by Oct. 31, with or without a deal. He cast the departure as a litmus test for British democracy, warning that any further delay would flout the will of the public.
“People are beginning to feel that they are being taken for fools,” Johnson said. “They are beginning to suspect that there are forces in this country that simply don’t want Brexit delivered at all. And if they turn out to be right in that suspicion, then I believe there will be grave consequences for trust in democracy.”
After his speech, Johnson briefed the president of the European Commission, JeanClaude Juncker, on the details of Britain’s latest offer. The plan, dubbed “two borders for four years,” would pull Northern Ireland out of the European customs union along with Britain but leave much of the territory’s economy aligned with EU regulations for a period.
Juncker welcomed parts of it and found others “problematic,” according to a statement from the commission, which said its experts would review the proposals in more detail. But the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said the plan was “not promising and does not appear to form the basis of an agreement.”
Irish officials object that it would still require some checkpoints to monitor trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the south, and that the Northern Ireland Parliament would have the right to vote to leave the arrangement in four years.
Ireland’s acquiescence to Britain’s proposal is viewed as necessary to winning the approval of the EU.
A Brexit agreement between the EU and Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, was rejected by the British
Parliament, largely because of opposition to the “backstop,” an insurance policy designed to ensure that there is no return to customs posts or other infrastructure on the Irish border.
An open border underpins the local economy and Northern Ireland’s peace process. But Johnson and other British Brexit supporters oppose the backstop because it would keep the United Kingdom tightly bound to EU trade rules in order to avoid customs checks — limiting the country’s ability to strike new trade deals around the world.
Johnson insisted that “we will under no circumstances have checks at or near the border in Northern Ireland.”
The new British proposal involves “an all-island regulatory zone on the island of Ireland, covering all goods including agrifood.” That would keep Northern Ireland in a regulatory zone with the EU for food, agricultural and industrial products, removing the need for checks.
Under the plan there would still need to be customs checks, but Johnson suggested that they could be carried out away from the border at “other points on the supply chain.”
Raoul Ruparel, who left his post as a U.K. government adviser last week, tweeted that the offer would require “big concessions” from the EU and Ireland, which he said were unlikely. “I suspect they would rather gamble on an extension & election,” he said.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, called Johnson’s plan “worse than Theresa May’s deal — I can’t see it getting the support that he thinks that it will get.” Corbyn said he was especially concerned about the potential to “undermine the Good Friday agreement.”
In Wednesday’s speech, Johnson repeated his contention that the U.K. can handle any bumps that come from tumbling out of the bloc without a deal, which would mean the instant imposition of customs checks and other barriers between Britain and the EU, its biggest trading partner.
A no-deal Brexit is “not an outcome we want … [but] it is an outcome for which we are ready,” he said.
But the U.K. government and businesses say the disruptions would be substantial, with the flow of goods entering Britain through the major Channel port of Dover cut in half.
Many lawmakers want to prevent a no-deal exit and have passed a law that compels the government to seek a delay to Brexit if it can’t get an agreement with the EU by Oct. 19.
Johnson says he won’t do that — although he also insists that he will obey the law.
Johnson also suffered a setback when the U.K. Supreme Court ruled last week that his attempt to shut down Parliament for five weeks was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating Parliament’s ability to scrutinize the government’s Brexit plan.
The British government said Wednesday that it will ask Queen Elizabeth II to suspend Parliament again next week — but just for a few days ahead of a speech on Oct. 14 laying out the administration’s plans. A short suspension of that kind is routine and usually happens about once a year.