Soften EU stance to avoid hard Brexit
It’s only natural that everyone is resisting the idea of reopening a Brexit agreement that has already been negotiated once and for all. Of making concessions to Boris Johnson, who has plunged his country into a national crisis, violated the law, deceived the queen and made a mockery of parliament. No one, of course, wants to hand him the triumph of actually leading the British out of the European Union.
But in the current situation, it’s time for cool heads to weigh the lesser of the two evils for the EU: a difficult compromise or further extending a Brexit torture that could still ultimately result in Britain leaving the EU without a deal.
Johnson submitted a proposal to the EU last week to resolve the decisive issue, suggesting the EU move away from the Irish backstop, with Britain in turn agreeing to temporarily keep Northern Ireland inside the EU single market, but not the customs union.
Some are hoping that another postponement of Brexit might give Britain enough time to hold a second referendum on the issue. The idea is that British voters would this time choose to remain in the EU and everything would be hunky dory again. Dream on. A contentious, no-deal Brexit would have consequences far beyond the economy. It would cause permanent damage to British-EU relations.
The EU must soften its approach.