Brexit and the island of Ireland – any news from the EU’s revised offer for a withdrawal agreement?

This short article evaluates the Protocol Ireland/Northern Ireland in the Draft Withdrawal Agreement of 25 November. believe that accepting the EU’s offer would definitely be more advantageous than a ‘no deal’ scenario for Ireland and Northern Ireland – while there are, of course, considerable detriments compared to maintaining EU Membership. Containing the proverbial silver-lining, the November DWA’s Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland institutionalises a number of opportunities to amend or even expand its content. One could refer to these provisions as dynamisation clauses. The specific rules on the position of Ireland/Northern Ireland may continue to exist alongside the future EU/UK relationship, which thus far appears as a blueprint across just 147 paragraphs in a document entitled ‘Political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom’. Of course, the final Withdrawal Agreement will differ from the EU Treaties in its legal quality, which results in considerable uncertainty for business and citizens on the question as to how far the UK will actually comply with its obligations.