Brussels offers Brexit deal to Northern Ireland

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The offer has been likened to the “max fac” plan proposed by Brexit supporters but rejected by Brussels. This comes after Lord Frost said in a speech in Lisbon on Tuesday: “Obviously we will consider [the EU proposals] Seriously, complete and positive. But – I repeat – if we want to find a solution, we must collectively offer a major change.”

The Brexit minister has reiterated his call for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to oversee implementation of EU law in Northern Ireland to be replaced by international arbitration along the lines of the Brexit trade deal.

He noted that a “completely new” protocol was needed and that failure to reform the treaty would be a “historic miscalculation”. But EU sources have warned that the British demand to abolish the role of European judges is a red line and could cost Northern Ireland its access to the single market.

On Tuesday night, Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, said the British government’s request was “difficult to accept” and insisted that the European Court of Justice should be the body that interprets European law.

The deal offered from Brussels could see the creation of a “green corridor” for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain and a separate “red corridor”, with more customs controls, for products intended to travel outside the province.

“Instead of making a model for each item in the truck, you’ll be able to make a model for the whole truck. One for the whole load. It’s a very practical solution,” the official said.

One diplomat likened the plan to a “maximum facilitation” strategy previously advocated by Brexit supporters, which used technological solutions to reduce the need for physical checks.

The diplomat stressed that the difference with the New Deal was that it would use technology that now exists, while “max fac” in the European Union has been criticized for “magical thinking” due to its reliance on technology that has not yet been developed.

Lord Frost had reservations about giving Brussels access to data on trade across the Irish Sea, but his counterpart at the Commission, Maros Sefcovic, agreed to limit the range of information accessible.

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