Not with getting an open/soft border in Ireland.Not at all. The EU is pretty clear on that: the UK has the right to end the whole operation one-sided.
Hard exit is always an option.
What we are talking about here are called "backstop regulations" - so in case, that an agreement is not reached after a grace period of four years what will happen.
The EU insists it needs to be this:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-44615404What is the EU's position on the backstop?
The EU originally proposed a backstop that would mean Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs union, large parts of the single market and the EU VAT system.
Its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, continually emphasised that this backstop could only apply to Northern Ireland.
And that had been a problem in the UK?
That is an understatement.
If a backstop only applied to Northern Ireland, then the customs and regulatory border would essentially be drawn down the middle of the Irish Sea.
Goods coming into Northern Ireland from elsewhere in the UK would have to be checked to make sure they met EU standards.
Any separate status for Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK is seen as potentially damaging to the union as a whole.
Also this regulation somehow is weaved into prior contractual arrangements, I believe (could be wrong) but I've not read deeper around this yet.
The current dispute is around who can trigger a hard border and when. Under the legislation that was just struck down. If negotiations would have failed the backstop stated above would have triggered.
Meaning hard border in Northern Ireland. And any trade still having to follow european regulations and funneled through customs there, european taxes being paid. Which is a strong position to start the last set of separation negotiations. Because as the EU, if you do nothing - you get an outcome that the UK really doesnt want.
edit: Here is the most important part - also from the same article:
After months of an impasse, on 14 November 2018, Theresa May said her cabinet had backed a draft deal between UK-EU negotiators that included agreement on a backstop.
It would see Northern Ireland staying aligned to some rules of the EU single market, if another solution cannot be found by the end of the transition period in December 2020.
That means that goods coming into Northern Ireland would need to be checked to see if they meet EU standards.
It would also involve a temporary single custom territory effectively keeping the whole of the UK in the EU customs union - unless and until both the EU and UK agree that it is no longer necessary.
== the UK cant do it unilaterally.
--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
Thats interpersonal logic, so it doesnt apply. *jokingly*Erm...I'm not sure how the EU leaders would feel about this, but I'm inclined to say "no". From what I've read, I have the idea that the UK was always both-in-and-out of the EU. While the rest of the EU set out to standardize rulings and laws between countries, the UK was always one of those "I want to do it my way!" countries. In that aspect, the brexit could be a win-win situation: if UK doesn't believe in the EU project, then - with all due respect - their efforts are indeed better aimed at themselves than attempts to force them into something they don't want to be.
"Deeper integration" is a project that from the current perspective Germany is supposed to spearhead in the second half of 2020, but its political. We have to see how this pans out.
(Europe of two speeds, being one of the proposed solutions, which would still lead to one political european body.)
The UK will still remain a political factor though. They still will remain a trading partner. And the EU will always be a bigger global player with the UK somewhat integrated into their political decision concepts. So this "idea" will always remain to some extent, and still be worked on.
Especially, if both sides agree on a soft exit.
Last edited by notimp,