The government and the EU continue to shadow box over the backstop. Johnson suggests he has alternative arrangements but is coy about presenting them. The EU say they are keen to hear what these alternative arrangements are while dismissing those they already know about. One idea floated by a former Commission official, Sir Jonathan Faul, called "dual autonomy" has already been rejected as "inadequate and not anywhere near the landing zone".
The sides are still a very long way apart.
Johnson says the backstop must be abolished altogether while the EU say it, or something equivalent to it - assuming the government does have a "concrete" alternative, is "indispensable" to the Withdrawal Agreement and therefore to a transition period and a future FTA.
Johnson says unless the EU compromise and drop the backstop it will be their fault while the EU say it will be the UK's choice. Yesterday Johnson and Juncker spoke on the 'phone but appeared to simply restate their positions
A spokesman for the commission said Mr Juncker used the exchange to
repeat his willingness to "work constructively" to look at "concrete
proposals he may have, as long as they are compatible with the
Withdrawal Agreement".
Mr Juncker said the EU was
"fully prepared for a no-deal scenario" but added that the bloc would do
"everything it can to avoid such a situation".
"A no-deal scenario will only ever be the UK's decision, not the EU's," he told Mr Johnson.
And then the Malta Independent report Johnson's comments at the end of the G7 summit:
"But, remember that all statistical estimates that I give about the
chances of a deal -whether they are expressed in odds of millions to
one, or getting closer, or hotter or colder, or whatever - they all
depend exclusively on the willingness of our friends and partners to
compromise on that crucial point and to get rid of the backstop and the
current withdrawal agreement," he said
It is the passing of a very hot potato. Nobody wants to be blamed for Britain 'crashing out' (a term by the way that I note Brexiteers object to less and less) of the EU without a deal. One might take from this just how serious an event both sides know it would be. If it really was just a few 'bumps in the road' as we have been told it, would not warrant this amount of diplomatic deflective effort. It is another pointer to realising why it will never happen.
In Ireland the deputy PM and foreign minister Simon Coveney has said that existing British proposals for alternatives to the
backstop – which include trusted trader schemes and checks on goods away
from the Border – are “not even close” to being acceptable to the EU.
The entire backstop issue goes back to paragraphs 43 and 45 of the December 2017 Joint Report:
43. The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union presents a significant and unique challenge in relation to the island of Ireland. The United Kingdom recalls its commitment to protecting the operation of the 1998 Agreement, including its subsequent implementation agreements and arrangements, and to the effective operation of each of the institutions and bodies established under them. The United Kingdom also recalls its commitment to the avoidance of a hard border, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls.
45. The United Kingdom respects Ireland's ongoing membership of the European Union and all of the corresponding rights and obligations that entails, in particular Ireland's place in the Internal Market and the Customs Union. The United Kingdom also recalls its commitment to preserving the integrity of its internal market and Northern Ireland's place within it, as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union's Internal Market and Customs Union.
Remember this was greeted by Boris Johnson, who was foreign secretary at the time, as a success. He served in cabinet before resigning eight months later.
The present backstop is the EU's legally watertight proposal to give force to the commitments we made nearly two years ago. In all that time we have only ever produced unicorns and wishful thinking.
And if anyone thought this was the only issue preventing an agreement or that the EU will make any compromises while they know we are still arguing among ourselves, a report in the i News confirms the so-called 'Spartans' - the provisional wing of the ERG, will not accept the Withdrawal Agreement even if the backstop is removed
A "pig's" breakfast? Oh well.
So this is where Johnson is:
- The EU will not resile from the backstop idea - ever.
- He will not be able to produce any workable alternative arrangements in time.
- Accepting the deal or asking for an extension would destroy him.
- Leaving without a deal would destroy him, his party and the economy.
