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quietus (6328)
A new 'fair and balanced' Brexit Deal has been agreed between the EU and the UK, on the brink of a decisive EU summit.
The deal can be found here.
The changes versus the old deal under Theresa May have to do with the Northern Ireland border problem.
Having a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic would violate the Good Friday agreements, and hence needed to be avoided. However, Unionists in control of the Northern Ireland government insisted that NI remained a full part of the UK, with everything that goes along with that.
Squaring that circle has been worked out as follows.
Northern Ireland remains a part of the UK Customs zone, hence no customs duties need to be payed when bringing goods into NI from the rest of the UK. For exports to third-party countries, NI will follow the UK tariff rules. However, if a good might ultimately be destined for the EU, EU tariffs will apply.
To ensure these rules are followed, UK Customs will set up border checks in NI, but not at the border with the Irish Republic. Instead, customs checks will be carried out at the point of entry from the rest of the UK into Northern Ireland, i.e. its border crossings for the Irish Sea. These customs checks may be inspected by the EU; in any case, monthly communications are held about them.
UK Customs will collect EU tariffs, then send them to Brussels.
A similar arrangement has been agreed for VAT payments.
One of the difficulties might be in deciding what goods are likely to be exported to the EU i.e. any goods that might be subject to commercial processing in Northern Ireland, where 'processing' is defined as any alteration of goods, any transformation of goods in any way, or any subjecting of goods to operations other than for the purpose of preserving them in good condition or for adding or affixing marks, labels, seals or any other documentation to ensure compliance with any specific requirements.
That's a fairly broad criterium, and might hit NI businesses who mainly import and export from/to the UK. This might be resolved through reimbursement by UK Customs (i.e. point 6(a).).
A Joint Committee will refine those criteria during a transition period of 14 months (i.e. until the end of 2020). That Joint Committee will also decide on the volume of fish, exempted from duties, brought into Northern Ireland harbours.(How tariffs are going to applied to them fish is entirely unknown, but one can hear the artificial intelligence crowd already sharpening their marketing brochures).
For a number of articles in the agreement, the ECJ (European Court of Justice) will have ultimate jurisdiction. The UK may participate in those cases as a Member State, but will have to apply such decisions in the same way as other member states.
Another critical point, but mainly on the EU side, will be that 2 months before the end of a 4 year period (the 'initial period') after the transition period (14 months from Oct 31), the UK government will give the opportunity to the people of Northern Ireland, to express their democratic consent with the continued application of Articles 5 to 10 (the whole tariff and border checks thing). If they don't agree, there might again be a hard border in Ireland after an additional 4+2 year period.
In a reaction, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that this was a bad deal, actually worse than May's, and a people's vote through a new referendum should be the decision maker. The Unionists of the DUP also rejected the deal, but the suspicion there is that that's likely to be negotiable, with the right amount of money.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Thursday October 17 2019, @11:45AM (2 children)
Also, on AP news agency:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @02:17PM (1 child)
Farage is unrealistic here, regulatory alignment cannot change overnight - a point many Brexit supporters have been making since before the referendum.
Was the entire journal your writeup? Good job if so.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Friday October 18 2019, @06:27AM
It is noticeable that the ERG has kept mum, while the DUP clearly left the door open.
The writeup is a bit too wordy to my liking -- little time, and the simultaneous (spoken) translation during the press conference didn't really help; also, still need to read the full text of the agreement while waiting for further analysis by the media.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @03:00PM (6 children)
Then this means that the UK is committing to customs checks on goods entering NI, in case they get sent on to the Eu, for accounting with the EU. But what about EU migration law? Ireland would have to remain outside Schengen.
AIUI, the problem the EU has with standing firm on a guarded external boundary on the island is the threat of Irish terrorists attacking the checkpoints, and the opposition of Ireland to such plans, who are otherwise a strong EU ally.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @04:42PM (3 children)
Most Irish I've spoken to don't want to be part of Schengen. [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @05:52PM (1 child)
Lololololololololololololololololol
Schengen? How's the waifu?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @09:01PM
Ignorant American! Stay out of Kansas, noob!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @06:55PM
What a worthless trash article. I see why you wanted to hide that it was actually a Breitbart hit piece. Summarizing, this entire piece is based on the testimony of Michael Walsh: "Mr. Walsh – a screenwriter, author, filmmaker, and former Breitbart News editor – grew up in the U.S. but has roots in the isolated town of Lisdoonvarna in County Clare". An American supposedly giving the common sentiment of the village, a plastic paddy as the Irish apparently call them.
There are issues due to locals getting saddled with a group of "others" against their will, but it deserves more consideration than a simple xenophobic screed aimed at a US audience, and a hint that "you spoke to people".
Personally I can see that the Irish would prefer to have no immigration checks with the UK, than be part of Schengen and not have free access to the UK.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Friday October 18 2019, @06:21AM (1 child)
Free movement of people between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic is guaranteed. Border checks not only happen in NI harbours, but also on their English counterparts, so that prevents free movement of EU citizens into the UK.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 19 2019, @01:06AM
But Ireland must commit itself to retain border checks to British specifications, otherwise EU citizens could walk right across the border into NI.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday October 17 2019, @07:55PM
Say no more...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by quietus on Friday October 18 2019, @06:34AM
The mathematics of the deal seem to hinge on the dissidents formerly ejected by BoJo from the Conservative Party. That might not be an unsurmountable problem: apology, reinstatement and a couple of influential posts probably will do the trick. Then, what's needed are a number of Labour MPs refusing to toe to Corbyn's line: also not impossible -- plenty must be fed up with his fence sitting and the continuing uncertainty around Brexit.
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Friday October 18 2019, @09:46AM (2 children)
Some commentators are saying this is an old deal that was always available to the UK. For example [bloomberg.com]:
Johnson does strike me as the type of person who might repackage an old turd and try to sell it as caviar.
(Score: 3, Informative) by quietus on Friday October 18 2019, @10:19AM (1 child)
A border usually involves two parties, in this case, the EU and the UK.
The way I understand it, border checks by the EU in UK territory (the Irish Sea or Northern Ireland itself) were/are seen by a number of Brexiteers as an insult to UK sovereignty.
In this deal, the EU nominally will not do border checks within the UK (the Irish Sea); UK Customs will do that for them (goods only).
(Score: 2) by quietus on Friday October 18 2019, @10:21AM
Further addition: this wasn't in the previous deal, but it was part of a previous deal proposal by the EU, which was then rejected by Theresa May's negotiating team.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Friday October 18 2019, @10:36AM
The European Parliament will only allow an extension [of the negotiations] if there's a clear resolution path, according to Guy Verhofstadt, Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament.
That likely means that they'll insist on a new referendum to decide matters once and for all.