‘We’ve Got a Great New Deal’: Brexit Treaty Agreed by Boris Johnson and EU

Sky's @skydavidblevins reports that the DUP is 'not on board' with the #Brexit deal Prime Minister @BorisJohnson has agreed with the EU.

For live updates on this story, click here: https://t.co/nVju8bX0hI pic.twitter.com/MHq74jUcSa

— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 17, 2019

During a press conference this morning, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier outlined how Johnson’s team and Brussels settled on the proposed customs arrangements for Northern Ireland, maintaining that the plans prevent a so-called ‘hard border’ on the isle of Ireland and respect the UK’s position that Northern Ireland must remain in British customs territory.

“The solution that we found rests on four main elements,” Mr Barnier said. In point one, the Eurocrat said that Northern Ireland will remain part of a “limited” set of EU rules related to goods:

1) Northern Ireland will remain aligned to a limited set of EU rules, notably related to goods. This means that all applicable procedures on goods will take place at the points entry into Northern Ireland and not across the island. For this purpose, UK authorities will be in charge of applying the Union’s customs code in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland will stay in the UK’s customs territory but also remain an entry point to the EU’s Single Market. According to Mr Barnier:

2) Northern Ireland will remain in the UK’s customs territory. It will therefore beneift from the UK’s future trade policy. But Northern Ireland will also remain an entry point into our Single Market. UK authorities can apply tariffs on products coming from third countries — so long as those goods entering Northern Ireland are not at risk of entering our Single Market. For goods at risk of entering the Single Market, UK authorities will apply the EU’s tariffs.

On the third point related to Value Added Tax (VAT), Mr Barnier said both sides have “maintained the integrity of the Single Market”, but the deal will “also satisfy the UK’s wishes”.

Mr Barnier confirmed in the fourth point that the DUP had lost its veto over whether new arrangements come into force in Northern Ireland; instead, a simple majority vote will be held in Stormont, the country’s assembly. He said:

4) Prime Minister Johnson and the Taoiseach wanted to ensure long-term democratic support for the application by UK authorities of relevant union rules in Northern Ireland. Four years after the enforcement of the protocol, the representives of Northern Ireland will be able to decide by simple majority whether to continue applying relevant union rules in Northern Ireland or not. This democratic support is a cornerstone of our newly-agreed approach.