Brexit; Northern Ireland

(asked on 15th October 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the December 2017 Joint Report and the Northern Ireland backstop arrangement, what the Government’s definition is of the term full alignment.


Answered by
Chris Heaton-Harris Portrait
Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This question was answered on 18th October 2018

The UK has always said our goal is to meet the commitments we set out in the December Joint Report through the overall UK-EU future partnership; the proposals set out in this White Paper would enable us to do just that. We will also fulfil our commitments to agree a backstop for Northern Ireland in which the UK will maintain full alignment with those rules of the internal market and the customs union which, now or in the future, support North-South co-operation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 [Belfast] Agreement.

We’re working hard to agree a backstop which upholds the commitments both sides made in December, which would of course be published. The details and scope of any alignment to be provided for remains a matter for negotiation.

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