May proposes Brexit backstop plan to EU
British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday unveiled a one-year backstop plan for the Irish border after Brexit, finding a compromise that may paper over differences in her government but may struggle to win over the European Union.
After 24 hours of scrambling to keep her Brexit minister, David Davis, on board, May published what the government called the temporary customs arrangement. This would ensure no return to a hard border involving reinstated customs controls on the frontier between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.
Instead it would see Britain staying tied to the EU's customs union after an almost two-year transition period if there were any delay in implementing a Brexit deal possibly for a year. The government said in the proposal that it "expects" to get a withdrawal agreement by the end of December 2021.
Britain may hope that this wording might still win approval from officials in Brussels. The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed the publication but said the backstop plan must not damage the EU's single market and customs union.
"The UK is clear that the temporary customs arrangement, should it be needed, should be time limited," the document, which was also sent to Brussels, said.
"The UK expects the future arrangement to be in place by the end of December 2021 at the latest. There are a range of options for how a time limit could be delivered, which the UK will propose and discuss with the EU," it said.
Comments