Britain has proposed creating an all-island regulatory zone in Ireland to cover all goods and a commitment to avoid border checks or physical infrastructure in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock. In its proposals to the EU on how to deal with the Irish border after Brexit, Britain suggested a zone of regulatory compliance across Northern Ireland and the EU to eliminate checks for trade in goods.
Before the end of a transition period after Brexit in December 2020, the Northern Ireland assembly and executive would be required to give their consent to this arrangement and every four years afterwards, the proposal document said.
Northern Ireland would stay part of the UK’s customs territory but to avoid customs checks, a declaration system would be introduced with a simplified process for small traders, along with a trusted-traders scheme.
The document said the proposals would ensure the integrity of the European Union Single Market and would be in keeping with the 1998 Good Friday peace deal which largely ended three decades of sectarian strife in the province.
“It is, as such, a proposal for an agreement which should be acceptable to both sides,” it concluded. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has written to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offering what he calls a “reasonable compromise” for amending Britain’s Brexit deal.
Johnson’s letter to Juncker says he wanted to replace the agreed “backstop” with alternative customs arrangements. Britain’s proposals deal “pragmatically” with the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU with the rest of the United Kingdom, and EU member state Ireland, Johnson said.
“I hope that these proposals can now provide the basis for rapid negotiations towards a solution,” he told Juncker in the letter. Johnson will hold talks with EU leaders later on Wednesday and is ready for an intense period of negotiations after he set out his new Brexit proposal, his spokesman said.
“We are putting forward proposals that we would like to build upon. I think what is important is seeing that the EU is willing to engage with this broad landing-zone and to go into ten days of, as I say, fairly intensive discussions with us,” the spokesman said.
“If the EU, obviously, don’t show they are prepared to engage with this proposal then the prime minister has been clear that we will move forward and leave without a deal.” A senior EU diplomat told Reuters the text of the proposal would be examined.
“We won’t blow this out of the water but we are going to subject it to the most rigorous analysis. Either this is a negotiation or it isn’t. If it is we will examine this proposal rigorously, and in light of extremely important criteria,” the diplomat said.
Source: Newshub
Featured Image: Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo / Newshub
