The EU and UK must negotiate where customs checks would be conducted if the island of Ireland becomes “a common regulatory area” post-Brexit, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said. The EU’s draft withdrawal agreement, published by Brussels yesterday, plans for Northern Ireland remaining under single market and customs union rules to avoid a hard Irish border but the detail of where customs checks would take place is not spelled out. “If there does need to be any customs checks, they would be done in partnership between the EU and UK customs teams, but of course our preference is there would be no customs checks required,” he said. Free movementUnder the EU plan, Northern Ireland would effectively remain part of the customs union, aligning with the EU on VAT and Brussels rules on state aid, and being subject to the European Court of Justice. Instead, he sees future customs controls between the EU and the UK “somewhere in airports and ports”, raising the prospect of new checks at Northern Ireland’s ports.

Source: The Irish Times March 01, 2018 00:56 UTC