Daily Mail - 23.08.2019

Daily Mail, Friday, August 23, 2019 Page 11

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said they were ready for a No Deal Brexit.

But Mr Macron added: ‘This is not our

negotiation, it is a political choice that

the Prime Minister will have to make.’

Mr Johnson praised his warm welcome

after arriving to an armed guard at the

Elysee, where they had lunch. Mr John-

son also jokingly placed his shoe on the

table, apparently after Mr Macron joked

that it would be better used as a footstool

because of its small size.

The pound also had its best day since

March. Sterling was up 1.1 per cent

against the dollar at $1.226, and 1.1 per

cent against the euro at €1.106.

Comment – Page 16

PETIT

)

CONCESSION

HERE’S WHY

WE DON’T

NEED THE

BACKSTOP

W

hEN I heard

how German

Chancellor

Angela Mer-

kel had invit-

ed Boris Johnson to put

forward new proposals

to solve the Northern

Ireland backstop in

the next 30 days, I

was delighted.

This might seem a tall order,

to produce in just one month a

Brexit solution that has eluded

others for the past three years.

But in recent months, I have

been working closely with

international technical

experts – practitioners in bor-

ders, customs, logistics, tran-

sit and so on – to produce pre-

cisely that: a workable set of

‘alternative arrangements’ to

prevent a hard border between

the UK and Ireland.

In June, I presented a report

on the issue to a gathering of

German Cabinet members

and senior German entrepre-

neurs and industrialists who

showed great interest in find-

ing solutions to the backstop.

Unlike the ideological techno-

crats in Brussels who have

refused point blank to consider

any way of getting around this

seemingly intractable prob-

lem, politicians and business

folk are more pragmatic –

including Chancellor Merkel.

She has been indicating her

willingness to be more practi-

cal on Brexit for some time.

Now it is clear that she is pre-

pared to give serious consider-

ation to well-thought-out and

practical ways of getting rid of

the backstop so we can achieve

four key objectives:

Leave the EU without

remaining half-shackled to

Brussels for ever; avoid estab-

lishing a hard border between

Northern Ireland and the

Republic of Ireland; protect

the Good Friday peace agree-

ment; and safeguard the

economies and living stand-

ards of those on both sides of

the Irish border.

Mrs Merkel’s constructive

tone with the Prime Minister

was in stark contrast to the

intransigent stance of EU

President Donald Tusk.

My impression is that the

penny has dropped with Mrs

Merkel and many of those

around her: notably, that what-

ever the merits of the backstop,

it simply isn’t going to pass

through the Commons. And

without the assent of the Com-

mons, there is, by definition,

never going to be a Brexit deal.

The backstop might seem

esoteric to some, but Boris

Johnson is right when he

describes it as anti-demo-

cratic and emblematic of wider

and more significant issues.

H

E put it succinctly

in his letter to Mr

Tusk – the back-

stop is ‘anti-demo-

cratic and locks the UK,

potentially indefinitely, into

an international treaty which

will bind us into a customs

union, provides no sovereign

means of exiting unilaterally

and affords the people of

Northern Ireland no influence

over the legislation which

applies to them.’

So, if the backstop isn’t

going to win the support of

MPs, and no longer has the

backing of the Government,

it is self-evident we must find

something that does. This

might seem an impossible

task with just 72 days to go

until Brexit on October 31.

But much of the work has

already been done. My Alter-

native Arrangements Commis-

sion went three times to North-

ern Ireland, twice to Dublin,

and to Brussels, Berlin and

The hague to explain the pro-

posals to politicians and opin-

ion-formers. We recommended

a series of administrative and

technological measures – all

of which are already in place

somewhere in the world today.

We propose a tiered trusted

trader scheme, similar to the

one between the US and Can-

ada, the so-called ‘Platinum

CSA’ scheme. These allow

firms to cut down on paper-

work and avoid routine cus-

toms checks at the border.

We propose using existing

World Trade Organisation

exemptions for border traffic

and national security.

We also recommended food

and animal checks away from

the border, and if the regimes

on plant and animal regula-

tions diverge, mobile units to

carry out sanitary and phy-

tosanitary checks far from the

sensitive frontier.

Our proposals also included

special ‘enhanced economic

zones’ straddling the border

between Londonderry and

Donegal and possibly Newry

and Dundalk, with tax breaks

and a free trade zone to avoid

duties. Our Commission con-

cluded that alternative

arrangements are the way to

break the Brexit deadlock.

It is not realistic to believe

they can all be up and run-

ning by October 31 but that is

no reason to be discouraged.

Many of the measures can be

brought in quite quickly.

Some like the trusted trader

scheme might take 12 to 15

months. Others could take a

maximum of two to three

years. So, there will still need

to be some kind of transition

period. Of course, more work

needs to be done – and fast.

But thankfully, Mrs Merkel is

among the growing number

who are open-minded on this.

It doesn’t mean the EU is

yet convinced. It just needs

both sides to grasp the oppor-

tunity. With that in mind, I

am hosting a conference next

month near the Irish border

for politicians from North and

South to study our plans.

It won’t be easy, but as Boris

Johnson told a smiling Mrs

Merkel: ‘Wir schaffen das’ –

we can do it.

Rejoice: The Prime Minister’s victory pose as he returned to No 10 yesterday

sniggers at this customary moment of

Boris surrealism.

Le President raised his crooked beak in

the air, a picture of Froggy haughtiness,

and shot his counterpart a thin smile

which suggested: ‘Qui est ce buffoon?’

A quick Q&A followed. The (sigh) back-

stop, needless to say, took centre-stage.

Macron was doubtful a solution could

be found. Boris evoked his usual opti-

mism. ‘Where there’s a will there’s a

way,’ he insisted.

After 20 minutes it was time for lunch.

‘Merci beaucoup. Let’s work,’ har-

rumphed Le President. And so up the

steps they went, hands chummily resting

on each other’s shoulders, these most

unlikely freres d’armes.

by Greg

Hands

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