Brexit will indeed take place on October 31. That’s what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced to Emmanuel Macron during a telephone conversation on Sunday October 6. From now on, there will be no more postponements: the British company seems ready to put an end to it once and for all.
An announcement that sounds like the UK putting pressure on Europe. Johnson’s intention is to force the E.U. to reach an agreement by October 31… But the challenge seems daunting:
For this to be possible, the EU must make the same compromises that the UK has made in recent weeks and months. he declared.
Boris Johnson presented a new negotiating plan to Brussels last Wednesday. A compromise that had not gone down well with the E.U. and consisted in reviewing the nature of Northern Ireland’s economic exchanges with the rest of Europe, in order to avoid any hard border with the Republic of Ireland.
In a nutshell, the New Deal is designed to enable Northern Ireland to remain in the European single market for trade in goods and agri-foodstuffs. This would avoid any regulatory control between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. An arrangement that seems impossible for the European Union to implement, given that many European regulations would diverge in many respects from those applied by the UK.
What’s more, Northern Ireland would leave the European Customs Union at the end of the transition period… without creating a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. For Europe, this proposal sounds like an open door to numerous abuses: the difference in regulations could turn the Northern Irish border into a legal no-man’s-land in terms of the movement of goods. An unthinkable situation for the E.U.
Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will re-examine the Johnson proposal with Brussels… although some issues are non-negotiable…
Be that as it may, the prospect of a hard Brexit with no deal remains on everyone’s mind. In England, people are already showing signs of concern. Some people, fearing shortages of essential goods, are currently stocking up… Water, medicine, basic necessities… While the stock market is particularly volatile, as if hanging on every statement from Boris Johnson and Europe.
Northern Ireland, the first hostage of this Brexit, also seems to be awaiting an unpredictable outcome…
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