Brussels is set to offer Theresa May a backstop ‘out’ in a last-ditch bid to help save her Brexit deal
BRUSSELS is set to offer Theresa May a “get out of jail card” from the backstop in a last ditch bid to help her deal pass Parliament.
Eurocrats are working up new assurances that will include promises on tech solutions and details on how the UK can leave the Irish border fix.
They said it will be made clear the backstop must be replaced by a trade deal but without putting a specific time limit on it - a major red line for Dublin.
The changes would set certain criteria for the new relationship which, if met, would mean all or part of the border fix is no longer required.
They will be outlined in a new, legally-binding text that would build upon the review clause already in the Withdrawal Agreement.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox met with EU lawyers in Brussels yesterday as sources said the bloc will “stretch as far as possible” to get a deal.
A Government spokesman said the teams worked on “legally binding assurances that are required to guarantee that the backstop cannot endure indefinitely”.
Last night officials warned there are now just 10 days left to find a compromise that the PM can put to Parliament on March 12.
The bloc is ready to offer the UK “trade facilitation that’s unprecedented with any part of the world” as part of a revamped package.
A diplomatic source told The Sun this would be paired with a “get out of jail card” from the backstop that allows Mr Cox to change his legal advice on it.
The source said: “You can build on a mixture of several elements, giving credibility to the work that can be done on the alternative arrangements.
“That will probably be a large chunk of it in the future, to de-dramatise the impact of border checks.
“You can’t wipe out everything but you can nevertheless come to a situation where you evaporate a lot of checks that would’ve been necessary.
“The other avenue is a process which would lead to the get out of jail card for the UK without making it too visible that it’s a unilateral exit.
“You would need to do it through a process but, nevertheless, that would make it clear that there’s a destiny beyond the backstop.”
Work on tech solutions, known as Max Fac, would be combined with plans for a series of Swiss-style bilateral deals on issues like veterinary checks.
EU officials said Mr Cox would then be able to change his legal advice, which currently warns the UK could be trapped in the backstop indefinitely.
They hope this would provide Brexiteers and the DUP with “the miracle words they want to hear from the Oracle at Delphi” in order to vote for the deal.
Officials are also currently discussing changes to the Political Declaration on trade that would give it more clout.
The new package would allow Britain to seek a future relationship outside the Customs Union without requiring the whole backstop.
But the source warned that the “more the UK wants to depart from the current backstop, the more specific arrangements you’ll need for Northern Ireland”.
Eurocrats see a compromise along such lines as the “last possible salvation” for Mrs May’s deal with just 10 days of negotiations left to go.
One said: “If this fails I don’t see how you can resurrect it very easily in a couple of weeks down the road. You go into a political crisis in the UK.
“Plan B depends on how big the loss is, how desperate the situation is or not. There’s a big question mark in what direction it would go.”
They said there is not enough time to hold a vote on reversing Brexit and pointed out MPs are unlikely to back one anyway.
An official said: “If this were to be a credible move he should’ve started this process ages ago.”
They also dismissed suggestions the bloc is willing to extend Article 50 for more than three months as an attempt to scare the ERG into backing the deal.
But eurocrats believe that EU leaders will agree to prolong the UK’s membership to avoid no deal in March no matter what.
One said: “I have no doubt that nobody will want to take a risk and the extension will be accepted.
“But a short term extension is the best programming for a disaster in the summer.”
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Yesterday Luxembourg’s foreign minister suggested Brussels may allow the UK to temporarily appoint MEPs if there’s a long extension.
Jean Asselborn said the move would only be to allow Britain enough time to hold a second referendum, which could take six months to a year.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire insisted the UK would have to “explain” to national capitals what it would use an extension for.
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