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Significant leak to Politico of the difficult expert deliberations last week of the attempt to find a technology solution in place of the backstop/ regulatory alignment, same document as seen by @Kate_M_Proctor yesterday politico.eu/wp-content/upl…
... these are same groups from which I reported an internal rebellion even over their terms of reference - which members feared could be used to endorse No Deal. Those terms were changed, I understand: bbc.co.uk/news/business-…
TL DR - see my colleague @JP_Biz thread - but the direction of travel, or least negative assessments here seems to be the all Ireland SPS (ie plant and animal product) zone - ...
Dexeu pondering publishing the paper late this month or in October... but because of “potential negative impacts on the renegotiation with the EU” understand No 10 “are in agreement that we are not in a position to not publish anything”... NB second “not” here seems to be typo /1 
So independent experts were barred from discussing negotiability of alternative solutions with the EU - that is done by the Government. But “facilitations” considered include Trusted Trader, “Mobile SPS”, an all Ireland SPS zone, artificial intelligence and machine learning /2
Trusted trader - popular but questions about border infrastructure
NI/IE SPS zone (reg alignment) - “most practical deliverable & negotiable” “however comes with many challenges of the backstop” - E/W implications (Irish Sea border) & trade (NI Agri not in UK trade deals) /3
NI/IE SPS zone (reg alignment) - “most practical deliverable & negotiable” “however comes with many challenges of the backstop” - E/W implications (Irish Sea border) & trade (NI Agri not in UK trade deals) /3
“Mobile SPS” a key recommendation of Alternative Arrangements commission backed by PM repeatedly - these are units applying EU law in vans. Trashed by this paper “v poor negotiability proving to be the most untenable facilitation given impractiaclities and security risks”
“Every facilitation has concerns and issues... the complexity of combining them into something more systemic and as part of one package is a key missing factor at present” - ie there is no comprehensive plan as yet (last Wed) on a backstop alternative
“We consider that Alternative Arrangements would also be very important in a no deal” - though participants assured that the work was not intended to be used as a No Deal endorsement
Ok this bit is really important - Government admits internally that “a technology solution is unlikely to resolve the challenge” for Defra commodities (ie animal origin trade). “Rather a bespoke regulatory solution may be necessary”.
It’s pretty clear there. Over to the DUP.
It’s pretty clear there. Over to the DUP.
