The Northern Ireland backstop has become the main target of UK’s new Prime Minister Johnson. EU leaders however have so far held firm. The backstop set out in the draft Withdrawal Agreement is considered by the EU to be unnegotiable in order to avoid a hard border in Ireland, in line with the Good Friday Agreement. In addition, the backstop ensures a level playing field based on EU standards, particularly important for EU labour market and environmental protection rules. The former UK government accepted this approach and even went as far as to promise that new EU labour rules would be written into UK law. David Frost, former CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, now Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator, is conversely in favour for labour market deregulation and had opposed such an approach.
The Independent on David Frost
Stefan Scheuer