To ask Her Majesty's Government what would any backstop period, when the UK remained part of the Customs Union after leaving the EU, entail; and how would it differ from any transition period.
Answered on
6 June 2018
The UK agreed in the Joint Report that a backstop option to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland and Ireland and maintain the economic integrity of the UK should be translated into legally binding text. The Prime Minister has been clear that the current drafting of the EU’s backstop proposal is unacceptable. We will bring forward our own proposal in due course.
With regard to the second point, the UK and EU negotiating teams have reached agreement on the terms of an implementation period that will start on 30 March 2019 and last until 31 December 2020. During this period the UK will no longer be a Member State of the European Union, but market access will continue on current terms.