Irish border is poser

BRITAIN HAS NO PLAN FOR ONLY LAND LINK BETWEEN THEM AND EU Country moots technological answer or new customs union.

Britain’s intention to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit is inconsistent with its plan to withdraw from the European Union’s single market and customs union, a committee of lawmakers said yesterday.

The Irish border, which will be the only land link between the EU and Britain after Brexit, is proving to be one of the most problematic issues in a slow diplomatic process, which is testing the patience of politicians, businesses and investors.

The EU is looking to Britain to provide a solution on how to manage the flow of goods between Ireland and the British province without erecting politically inflammatory border controls.

Britain has said it wants to withdraw from the EU’s customs union, within which goods can move freely, but will not contemplate border posts or other infrastructure that could disrupt 20 years of delicate peace in Northern Ireland.

“We cannot at present see how leaving the customs union and the single market can be reconciled with there being no border or infrastructure,” said opposition lawmaker Hilary Benn, chair of the Brexit committee, which is scrutinising the negotiations.

The British government has said it is seeking a flexible and imaginative approach to the border that goes beyond existing EU precedents. It has mooted technological solutions or a new form of customs union. But ministers have been criticised by Ireland for a lack of detail.

Progress on the border issue is crucial to Britain’s hopes of moving negotiations on to the subject of trade and future relations – something businesses are impatient to find out about as they contemplate the need to relocate.

Deputy Irish Prime Minister Simon Coveney said “significantly more clarity” was needed before a December 14-15 summit.

The committee, which based its report on evidence from Brexit minister David Davis, also said the government needed to publish more detail on its plans for a post-departure transition period, –