No-one knows what the fuck is going on, but result of talks this week likely to centre on the concept of detail.
Maybe there's a system that can satisfy both sides. I'm sceptical, but let's say there is. Fact talks ongoing means they clearly believe there could be. So it will quickly dissolve into the details.
Would auditing of self-reporting work in assessing where imports end up under a dual-customs option - esp for intermediary products - given the incentive to over-report in area with lower tariffs? Fuck knows.
If not how else could you do to track? How much spot-checking required and at what point could that affect commitment to no checks? Fuck knows.
What kind of training would be required for customs officials to operate two sets of rules effectively? Whose officials will be at the NI entry point? Fuck knows.
If UK, would EU be willing to trust them? What does British rejection of level-playing field rules mean for the kind of regulatory levels it adopts in future and how does that affect the plan? Fuck... etc.
Even where principle can be signed off, those details are where you lose either the EU or the DUP. I can't see them being sorted this week. Could be proved wrong very soon. But I'd be surprised.
The temptation surely strong to have some kind of sign-off in principle on the concept, then extend and see if you can work out detail. But Johnson has narrowed his room to manoeuvre here very badly.
It's funny that this literally came up in the leadership campaign: Would you extend if you just needed a bit more time? The sane answer was obviously yes - absurd, borderline deranged, to suggest otherwise. But machista posturing took precedence over pragmatism.
In one form or another, we're always coming back to that same dynamic: the point where Brexit rhetoric meets reality.
Anyway, fuck knows. No-one knows what the fuck is going on over there. Basically all of UK politics is on stand-by while it plays out, in silence.
