Table of Contents
What is the Irish backstop in simple terms?
The Irish backstop (formally the Northern Ireland Protocol) is a defunct appendix to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement developed by the May government and the European Commission in December 2017 and finalised in November 2018, that aimed to prevent an evident border (one with customs controls) between the Republic …
Are any other countries leaving the EU?
Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that “Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements”. As of December 2020, the United Kingdom is the only former member state to have withdrawn from the European Union.
What is a backstop in sport?
backstop Add to list Share. In baseball, a backstop is the wall or fence behind home plate that keeps the ball on the playing field. Part of the backstop’s purpose is to keep players and spectators from getting hurt by foul balls or bats that players toss after hitting the ball.
What is the Irish backstop and how does it work?
The Irish backstop is the familiar name given to a draft agreement between the UK and the EU that aims to prevent a hard border in Ireland after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. Known formally as the Northern Ireland Protocol, it is a standalone (draft) treaty appended to the proposed Brexit withdrawal agreement…
Who supported the backstop in the Brexit deal?
The Irish government and Northern Irish nationalists (favouring a united Ireland) supported the protocol, whereas Unionists (favouring the existing United Kingdom) opposed it. By early 2019, the Westminster Parliament had voted three times against ratifying the Withdrawal Agreement and thus also rejected the backstop.
What would happen to the Irish border if Northern Ireland leaves the EU?
However, Northern Ireland alone would remain aligned to some extra EU rules to ensure the Irish border remains open as it is today. These separate regulations for Northern Ireland would mean there would be some checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
What is the backstop and why is it so controversial?
In April 2019, a report commissioned by the German Green Party concluded that the backstop could allow the UK to undermine EU environmental, consumer, and labour standards, because it lacks sufficiently detailed controls.