On Tuesday, January 29, 2019, British Prime Minister Theresa May won approval from Parliament to negotiate a revised agreement for the exit of the United Kingdom (“UK”) from the European Union (“EU”). Prime Minister May intends to reopen discussions with the EU over the “backstop” provision to which the UK and the EU sides agreed as part of their November 2018 draft agreement for the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU. The Parliamentary motion called for use of alternative solutions, with most interpreting this as a reference to technological solutions that have already been rejected by the EU as alternatives to a customs union arrangement.

EU political leaders swiftly rejected, however, the idea of reopening negotiations. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “The Withdrawal Agreement remains the best and only deal possible. The debates and votes in the House of Commons yesterday will not change that. The Withdrawal Agreement will not be renegotiated.”

European Council President Donald Tusk mirrored Juncker’s comments in a statement given via his spokesman: “The Withdrawal Agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The backstop is part of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation.”

As previously reported in the Trade & Manufacturing Alert, the “backstop” provision is a plan to prevent the implementation of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the event that no formal deal can be reached on trade and security agreements between the Republic of Ireland, which will remain a member of the EU, and the UK. If this backstop is put into effect, the entirety of the UK would remain in the EU customs union, while Northern Ireland would remain under the jurisdiction of the European single market. The backstop would come into effect only if the framework for the future relationship between the EU and the UK was not ready by January 1, 2021, and the UK decides not to request an extension of the implementation period.

The UK remains on course to withdraw from the EU on March 29, 2019 with a “no deal” should the negations fail. Given the struggle over the backstop provision, however, there has been increasing talk of pushing back this date. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that “extra time” might be necessary to finalize Brexit negotiations. This was also a sentiment echoed by Jeremy Corbyn, UK Labour Party leader, who said: “It is possible that there will have to be an extension in order to get an agreement because we cannot leave the EU on March 29 without an agreement.”