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EU unconvinced by Johnson's fresh bid to remove Brexit backstop

2019-08-20 09:52:53       source:The Guardian

August 19, 2019


Boris Johnson has written to the EU suggesting the backstop could be replaced by some form of commitment to prevent a hard Irish border in his first major move to explain the UK government’s new position to Brussels.


Ahead of talks with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, Johnson released a four-page letter setting out his position that the backstop is “anti-democratic and inconsistent with the sovereignty of the UK”, because it could keep the UK indefinitely in a customs union with no means of exit.


He proposed that alternative customs arrangements could be put in place at the Irish border within the two-year transitional period after Brexit, but suggested some unspecified commitments could give confidence that there will be no hard border on the island if this system is not ready by that point.


Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/19/eu-unconvinced-as-boris-johnson-sets-out-fresh-bid-to-remove-brexit-backstop