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[...]The EU insists it will not sign up to a deal that creates a regulatory and customs border on the island of Ireland, as proposed by the UK in the papers tabled last week by the government’s chief negotiator, David Frost.
Barnier said: “The new government of the UK wants us to get rid of this solution, the so-called backstop and wants … a regulatory and customs land border on the island of Ireland.
“The UK government also wants the EU to change the way the internal market and border control operates after Brexit.
“As I am sure you will understand, this is unacceptable. My mandate is clear of the 27 leaders, the EU and the European parliament, safeguarding peace and stability in Ireland and protecting the integrity of the single market.
“Let me therefore put it clearly that based on current UK thinking, it is difficult to see how we arrive at a legally operable solution that fulfils all the objectives of the backstop.”
Barnier went on to insist the EU was open to “new ideas” should they be proposed. But he added that the talks were in a “very difficult sensitive phase”.
“The ball is in the court of the British,” he added.
The UK government has proposed maintaining an all-Ireland sanitary and phytosanitary zone for agrifood products to ensure that the flow of 30% by value of the trade across the border is unimpeded. [...]
Of the UK’s suggestion that customs paperwork could be done away from the border and that technology and trusted trade schemes could facilitate the necessary checks, Barnier and Maas raised doubts.
“Objectively, there are possibilities,” Barnier said, but added: “I don’t know how to inspect a cow with virtual methods.”