BREXIT and beyond ....: What is the Backstop?

Tuesday 10 September 2019

The Irish backstop is essentially a safety net that would prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.
It is one of the most controversial elements of Theresa May’s Brexit deal and has been a constant stumbling block between No10 and Brussels.
Under May’s deal, the UK would enter a transition period after officially leaving the EU where it would remain a member of the bloc’s economic zones - namely the single market and the customs union.
This would give the government time to agree the details of our new trading relationship with Brussels.
The backstop would come into effect if the transition period ended before all the details of the new relationship had been worked out.
Northern Ireland would then remain a member of the single market until a trade agreement had been reached to keep the border effectively invisible.
That would mean goods crossing the Irish border would not be subject to checks for customs or product standards.
The whole of the UK would also remain in a common customs territory with the EU, meaning there would be no "tariffs, quotas, rules of origin or customs processes" applied to UK-EU trade.
The arrangement would keep the Northern Irish border open, but would mean the UK would temporarily have to go on following the EU's rules and regulations without having a say in deciding them.