Progress Made On Brexit Talks, But Northern Ireland Issues Remain - May

Progress has been made on Brexit talks, including a customs solution for the Northern Ireland, but some issues linked to the region remain, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) Progress has been made on Brexit talks, including a customs solution for the Northern Ireland, but some issues linked to the region remain, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday.

"We have made real progress in recent weeks on both withdrawal agreement and the political declaration on our future relationship ... Taken together, the shape of the deal across the vast majority of the withdrawal agreement, the terms of our exit are now clear ... Perhaps most significantly, we have made progress on Northern Ireland ... The European Union has responded positively by agreeing to explore a UK-wide customs solution to this backstop .

.. Two problems remain ... Even with the progress we have made, the EU still requires a backstop to the backstop," May told the UK parliament.

The bloc wants its original proposal for a customs and single market arrangement including only Northern Ireland to be a "backstop to the backstop," May said.

The prime minister stressed that the UK government wanted to ensure that the backstop never comes into force.

A backstop may be required as an insurance policy against hard border in Northern Ireland, which would be needed if the European Union and the United Kingdom failed to agree a customs arrangement by the end of the transition period in December 2020.