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David Phinnemore @DPhinnemore
, 4 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Raab: "On the Northern Ireland Protocol, we remain committed... to agree a backstop in case there is a delay between the end of the Implementation [transition] Period and the entry into force of the treaty on our future relationship" 1/4

gov.uk/government/new…
The reference to ‘delay’ overlooks/ignores what the UK and the EU have already agreed.
ec.europa.eu/commission/sit…
2/4
According to text ‘agreed at negotiators' level’ and ‘only… subject to technical legal revisions’, the backstop and other provisions in the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland do not cease automatically with a future agreement on UK-EU relations. Conditions apply.
3/4
What has been agreed is that provisions of the Protocol shall only cease to apply – ‘in whole or in part’ – if a UK-EU agreement ‘addresses the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, avoids a hard border and protects the 1998 Agreement in all its dimensions’.

4/4
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As the domestic UK political debate on Brexit grapples with the 'backstop' issue, it is worth recalling key statements adopted during the negotiations to date.

These may be ignored in the domestic debate, but are essential reference points for the EU and its negotiators.

1/
UK-EU Joint Report (08.12.2017), especially:

Para 49: 'In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will

Para 50: In the absence of agreed solutions ...

ec.europa.eu/commission/sit…

2/
Draft Withdrawal Agreement (WA) (19.03.18)

"negotiators agree that a legally operative version of the “backstop” solution for the border... in line with [para] 49 of the Joint Report, should be agreed as part of the [WA], to apply unless and until another solution is found”

3/
Read 12 tweets
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Interesting point of procedure raised by Varadkar:

"it's not the case [that] there is going to be some sort of compromise cobbled together late at night at the EU council meeting in October. [It] is not a negotiating meeting, the UK will not be there..."
“… so any agreement will have to be concluded between the UK on the one hand and the EU taskforce on the other. And I don't see any benefit for the United Kingdom in putting things off”
UK PM does not attend European Council (Art. 50) meetings and EU27 have structured and managed process to date to keep discussion of Brexit off the agenda of full European Council meetings.
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

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Northern Ireland's pro-remain parties are meeting @theSNP @LibDems & @Plaid_Cymru in London today. They will meet Labour leader @jeremycorbyn this afternoon.

#brexit
DUP deputy leader @NigelDoddsDUP: “Sinn Fein will turn up today at Westminster, do a couple of meetings, talk in front of the cameras and then disappear until they repeat the exercise in another couple of weeks. It’s a con job and a classic example of stunt politics."
.@NigelDoddsDUP : If Sinn Fein MPs were truly passionate about #Brexit, they would take their seats in the House of Commons and actually use their votes to influence the outcome. Over 40% of the divisions on EU Withdrawal Bill had a majority of less than 20.
Read 8 tweets
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Still misunderstanding on backstop in relation to deal. Thread:

1) An all-UK solution in withdrawal deal is hard for EU because withdrawal isn’t meant to deal with future r’ship. So while Brexiters treat all-UK customs union as concession by UK, was actually big concession by EU
2) Point is that customs union won’t resolve our future trade relationship. It’s a building block but it’s not enough for a trade deal. There’ll still be plenty to negotiate. But it is the essential first component
3) EU (and Ireland) need to know that whatever may happen in UK over next years and decades, there’ll always be an invisible land border in Ireland. That’s why backstop has to be NI-specific. And yes, that’s a problem for UK because NI must have soft Brexit in all circumstances
Read 9 tweets
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MINI-THREAD: Everything that Theresa May said today in Parliament about the backstop was deeply and deliberately misleading. Here's why. (1/5)
According to the December 2017 progress report (that both sides signed up to) there's a backstop for one reason and one reason only: both sides were committing to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland *whatever happened* in terms of the future relationship. 2/
However, today in Parliament our PM claimed that the principle of the backstop had been agreed for a different purpose: to bridge any time gap between the end of what she still insists on calling the 'implementation period' and legal entry into force of any new relationship. 3/
Read 5 tweets
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Corbyn is wrong that UK-wide CU solves the issue though. Needs SM/Reg alignment as well.
Still pushing CU. Shame, as otherwise a good response.
Interesting that Corbyn said May needs to crack a deal that the “house and the country” could accept. Is the country to be asked? Not sure it is.
Read 14 tweets
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Tonight at 2200 on @skynews i’ve been in the port of Larne, Northern Ireland with Daisy the cow, who could save the Brexit Deal or imperil the Union, depending on your view...#backstop #borderforcows
in the Northern Ireland port town of Larne, one of the places where Irish Sea checks would be required under EU Ireland Brexit backstop proposal, currently being negotiated in Brussels..
and one of the places where checks actually already happen on animal trade between Sco & NI
Barnier mentioned these existing “Irish Sea” checks as a precedent yesterday - but would have to be tenfold increase for backstop...DUP source said this was building “an entire edifice” on some foot & mouth checks for cows..MEP Diane Dodds said checks on lasagne as well as cows
Read 6 tweets
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#Remain voted for:

A say in whether the EU enlarges or not.
A say in if the EU federalises or remains a union of independent states.
A say in if there is an EU army.
Being the financial capital through which the majority of € is traded while still keeping the £.

#BrexitReality
#EnlargedEurope

The UK has taken the lead in efforts for EU enlargement. It pushed for the inclusion of Eastern European states. It pushed for Turkey to get its shit together so that it could join (which it made very slow progress with, and has largely been undone by Erdogan)
After #Brexit, the UK will have no influence on EU enlargement. In fact, as setting the EU as a rival, every country that joins the EU will a) strengthen the EU, and b) unravels any trade deals that the UK will have made with that country, isolating it further.
Read 25 tweets

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