All eyes were on Boris Johnson this week, as his cabinet sent in his long-anticipated draft for a withdrawal agreement to the European Union this week. However, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s ideas did not receive the welcome Johnson had hoped for.
The main problem of Johnson’s proposal is that it is incomplete. It is almost like a manifesto, and it contains a list of ideas without substantial proposals as to how to make them a reality. The key points of his proposals are that the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland included) will leave the customs union after the end of the transition period. However, Northern Ireland will enter a state of double borders. It will retain a soft border with the Republic of Ireland (an EU member) by complying with EU regulations, but those regulations would stop at the border with the rest of the UK. Every four years, the Northern Irish government would have the opportunity to decide if they want to continue following EU rules or UK rules.
Though Johnson previously said there will be no need for border checks on the island of Ireland, he later conceded that a small number of decentralized checks on goods might be necessary. The Prime Minister of Ireland said that regardless of where they happen, these checks still constitute a hard border and thus violate the Good Friday Agreement.
The EU leaders said they are committed to negotiating with Johnson further and trying to get more concrete proposals out of his cabinet. The bulk of the talks will occur over the next ten days, which would lead up to an EU summit on October 17.
Meanwhile, today the Scottish Court will hear a case as to what they can do to Boris Johnson if he refuses to comply with a bill that UK parliament passed earlier in September, forcing the Prime Minister to ask for an extension to the Brexit deadline if he fails to secure a deal by October 19. The court’s decision will be announced on Monday. The court will also consider if they can legally send an extension request without involving the unwilling Prime Minister.
