Re-upping this excellent piece, which says Ireland would likely impose border checks in the event of a no deal. Below, some lines I’m not sure about...
1) If there was no deal, “the EU would still insist on concluding the withdrawal agreement before starting trade talks with the UK.” Is this legally right? Can you sign a withdrawal agreement *after* withdrawal? The inverse of not being able to negotiate an FTA with an EU member?
2) The piece says no deal is the U.K. reneging on its commitments. Objectively, I think this is unfair -- it’s a breakdown on both sides. The U.K. govt would argue the EU had reneged on its commitments as well.
3) There’s deep irony in one plausible solution put forward by @KeohaneDan - east/west border checks. This, in effect, would be half the EU backstop, without NI staying in the EU’s customs territory. It’s basically what the U.K. is looking at now but the EU is resisting, no?
