UK PM Johnson Unveils Brexit Plan, Would Add Border Checks Between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Oct. 2 released details of his proposal for customs procedures involving Northern Ireland after Brexit (see 1910010070). The proposal seeks to replace the “Irish backstop,” a key hurdle to passage of a transition deal in the U.K. Parliament. The proposed framework would effectively keep Northern Ireland within the EU’s regulatory framework for at least four years after the end of a transition period in 2020, giving the Northern Ireland parliament the ability to exit the proposed framework.

The proposed agreement would be “coupled with a firm commitment (by both parties) never to conduct checks at the border in the future,” Johnson said in the publicly released letter attached to the actual proposal. Northern Ireland would become part of the U.K.’s customs territory after the transition period ends, so the EU and the U.K. would need to put in place “specific, workable improvements and simplifications to existing customs rules” between now and then.

Despite Northern Ireland being nominally part of the U.K. for customs purposes, the U.K. would put in place border checks for foods and agricultural goods entering Northern Ireland from the U.K., or require them to pass through a designated port of entry, according to a fact sheet released by Reuters. These goods would also be subject to identity and documentary checks and cargo exams by U.K. authorities as required by EU rules, Reuters said.

Goods moving between Northern Ireland and Ireland would be notified using a declaration, Reuters said. “Physical checks on a very small proportion of movements could take place at traders’ premises or designated locations anywhere in Ireland or Northern Ireland,” Johnson’s letter said. These arrangements would be supported by trusted trader schemes, simplified customs procedures and temporary admissions, the U.K. said, according to Reuters.

The new proposal would still have to be approved by the EU. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker did not immediately dismiss it out of hand, but did note there are some issues with it. In a call with Johnson on Oct. 2, Juncker said the proposal includes “positive advances, notably with regards to the full regulatory alignment for all goods and the control of goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain. However, the President also noted that there are still some problematic points that will need further work in the coming days, notably with regards to the governance of the backstop,” an EU statement said.

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier was more critical in private discussions, saying the deal would trap the EU and stop it from protecting its internal market if the proposal is adopted and Northern Ireland subsequently withdraws from the framework, according to a report in The Guardian. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, whose opinion is seen as critical, told Johnson that the proposals “do not fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop,” The Guardian said.

As for the deal’s prospects in the U.K. Parliament, which also must approve the deal if it gets by the EU, U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn criticized the proposal and said it would lead to a “race to the bottom on rights and protections.” But the leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, Arlene Foster, called it a “sensible way forward” that “allows the people of Northern Ireland consent in a way not provided by the anti-democratic backstop.”