Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has left open the possibility of customs border checks even with Northern Ireland being aligned with EU customs union and single market rules post-Brexit. Mr Coveney told reporters in Dublin that under the EU’s draft Brexit agreement a specialist joint committee comprising EU and UK representatives would try “to figure out the practicalities of that”. “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. “Any details or issues that need to be resolved will have to be resolved between the two sides.”The Government did not want to see customs checks on trade north and south of the border or east and west between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK or between Ireland and the UK, he said. That option, agreed to avoid a hard border, would involve north-south alignment should a wider EU-UK trade deal not be agreed or if London failed to come with a specific solution for Northern Ireland.

Source: The Irish Times February 28, 2018 16:18 UTC