During May, and not for the first time in the last twelve months, there was an apparent hiatus in Brexit negotiations. This does not indicate that nothing was happening, it’s simply that discussions were taking place internally within the UK and EU camps rather than between them.
As with previous lulls in proceedings, the latest one was broken with a frenzy of activity. The first sign of this ‘re-awakening’ came on 7th June when the UK government published its proposals for the future customs arrangement with the EU and, specifically, how a hard Irish border can be avoided. The plan involves a time-limited ‘backstop’ in which the entire UK continues to match EU trade tariffs if a trade deal is not signed by 2021.
Indications from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier are that it will not accept the backstop being applied to whole of the UK and that the proposals ‘raise more questions than answers’. Instead, the EU wants an alternative backstop in which Northern Ireland only will remain aligned with EU customs rules, a notion that the UK has already dismissed. The UK government has also expressed its confidence that the backstop, in whatever shape or form, will not need to come into force. With the EU Council summit taking place at the time of writing, there appears to be plenty of negotiation ahead before this seemingly intractable issue can be resolved.
June also saw Brexit return to the top of the agenda for the UK Parliament, where the government was attempting to overturn 15 amendments to the Withdrawal Bill in a series of key votes which took place on 12th and 13th June. The closest of these was on whether Parliament should be able to instruct the government if the final Brexit deal is rejected by Parliament or no agreement with the EU is reached before 21st January 2019. However, a potential rebellion against the government was avoided after the Prime Minister gave assurances to MPs that further talks would take place to hear their concerns.
The draft legislation subsequently received Royal Assent and has become law as the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
The next few weeks promise to be pivotal to the final outcome of Brexit and the late Spring hiatus already seems a distant memory.
Article published: 29th June 2018
