Boris Johnson’s Brexit offer to the EU is not dead on arrival – but it may well be dead within the next 48 hours.
And that could become clear as Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, briefs EU ambassadors and MEPs about what he sees as the deficiencies of the proposals.
The biggest hole, as you would expect, is that EU government heads are being asked to take on trust that all the legal and technical preparations necessary for checks on goods and food flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and all the legal and technical preparations for customs checks away from the Northern Ireland border, will be completed by the end of 2021 at the very last.
2021 is the last date for the whole UK to exit from the EU’s single market and customs union (the preferred date for this full Brexit for Johnson is the end of 2020).
The whole point of that notorious backstop that Brexiters hate and Johnson wants to dump, is that EU leaders don’t believe Johnson’s Northern Ireland customs and market preparations can be completed in time.
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