Thread by @hayward_katy

[THREAD] Great to see that Joint Agreement text! tinyurl.com/JointAgmt
On NI/IRL, here are some key points and a bit of tweet-tight analysis: (1/)

The biggie, para 49: Primary aim = to uphold commitments (to support N/S coop, all-island economy & protection of GFA) as part of whole UK/EU r'ship.
Failing that, UK will propose ‘specific solutions’.
If those fail? UK to maintain’ full alignment’ w/ relevant SM & CU rules (2/

I can’t say I know what ‘full alignment’ with CU rules would look like. I think overall effect of this is to concentrate minds on finding those ‘agreed solutions’.
Safest bet would be on specific solutions (AKA ‘flexible & imaginative’?) for NI. This is confirmed by para 50. (3/

Para 50: ‘no new regulatory barriers’ between NI & the rest of the UK,
*unless* ‘consistent with the 1998 Agmt, the NI Executive & Assembly agree that distinct arrangements are appropriate for NI.’
This gives devolved admin power to choose specific solutions for NI. Clever. (4/

Specific solutions for NI include regulatory mechanisms. ['Differentiation' with heavy metal boots]
This = critical to reassuring EU26. See Para 51. ‘establish mechanisms to ensure the implementation & oversight of any specific arrangement to safeguard' integrity of SM & CU (5/

Para 49, ‘The UK remains committed to protecting N/S cooperation & to its **guarantee** of avoiding a hard border’.
Para 43. Wishes to avoid ‘related checks & controls’.
IMO If UK not to breach WTO rules, it will need thus to avoid the conditions that require such controls. (6/

And why is Dublin happy? Because paragraphs 46 and 49 mean that, whatever the outcome or nature of the future UK/EU relationship, cross-border cooperation in Ireland is protected and the UK has guaranteed there will be ‘no hard border’. (7/

& for unionists? Stated commitments to Strand 3 cooperation (para 48) & totality of relationships (para 42).
Plus para 44 'NI's position as an integral part of the UK, consistent with the principle of consent’. PM’s letter confirms this. tinyurl.com/y8y2o8vt (8/

'Reconciliation' is back!!
Para 47: ‘Cooperation btnIRL & NI is a central part of the 1998 Agmt & is essential for achieving *reconciliation* & the normalisation of relationships on the island of Ireland.’
Roles, functions & safeguards of the NIExec, NIA & NSMC protected. (9/

N/S cooperation needs the acquis. Mapping exercise showed: ‘North-South cooperation relies to a significant extent on a common European Union legal & policy framework.’ [para 47]
Hence ‘regulatory alignment’ is more than a nice phrase, and will be interpreted as such by EU. (10/

Last but not least: Frontier workers' rights protected (paras. 6, 15).
No diminuition of rights & safeguards of citizens in NI (para 53).
Future PEACE & INTERREG hopeful (para 55).
Phase 2 will inc. ‘distinct strand’ on ‘the detailed arrangements' for NI/IRL (para 56)
(11/11)