The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said that no withdrawal agreement for the UK will be made without a “backstop” option for the Republic of Ireland, whereby Northern Ireland – or the UK – remains in a common regulatory area with the EU in order to prevent a hard border. The UK has accepted the need for a backstop to be written into the Brexit withdrawal agreement. But May is understood not to have ruled out such an option, which would see Britain remain subject to European rules and regulations but also retain its own trade deals outside Europe.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said that no withdrawal agreement for the UK will be made without a “backstop” option for the Republic of Ireland, whereby Northern Ireland – or the UK – remains in a common regulatory area with the EU in order to prevent a hard border. But May is understood not to have ruled out such an option, which would see Britain remain subject to European rules and regulations but also retain its own trade deals outside Europe.