The European Commission has not received proposals from the UK on the situation with the Irish border after Brexit, which would satisfy all the requirements of the European Union, despite the fact that the country can leave the EU in about a month, EC spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said at a briefing.
The EU and the United Kingdom returned to the Brexit dialogue a few weeks ago. It was previously reported that the country submitted a number of documents on the Brexit issue to the European Commission.
“We haven’t received any offers from Great Britain that would satisfy all the backstop goals that we reminded of and whose achievements we demanded. It is the United Kingdom that should present workable solutions that would satisfy all the backstop requirements: to prevent a tight border, maintain cooperation between south and north (on the island where Ireland and Northern Ireland are located) and the economics on the whole island, protect the EU single market and Ireland’s place in it”, – she said.
The separation agreement – that is, the terms of the “divorce” of the country and the union – was worked out in difficult negotiations with the EU by the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, who resigned amid failures with Brexit. The stumbling block in the agreement was and remains the provisions on the “backstop” – the border of Northern Ireland (as a part of the United Kingdom) and the EU country Ireland, which is located on the island, of which Northern Ireland is a part.
The EU has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to change the “divorce” agreement, but may consider some proposals for correcting the situation that would fit into the outline of this agreement.
The support mechanism for the Irish border in its current form and the agreement on Brexit fixed in the long-suffering attempts suggest that after Brexit Northern Ireland will continue to follow the basic rules of the single EU market in order to avoid the need to check the goods for compliance with EU standards at the border. The UK as a whole will remain in the EU customs union. However, this mechanism does not suit the British authorities.