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Originally Posted by jfman
Except the concern of the EU isn’t transit. It’s essentially smuggling across an “open” border.
I think the best way for you to visualise it is EU citizens freely walking across the border and working in the UK, despite not having the right to do so. Would you be happy for uncontrolled migration into the UK over an open border?
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The backstop isn't remotely connected to movement of people. By the same token, goods could be shipped into the UK from the EU, but not go on to another EU country. That would break the UK internal market, in the
SAME way as the EU complains the EU single market could be broken.
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And many trade experts suggest the only way to prevent those checks at the Irish border would be for the two parts of the island to have the same standards.
In effect, that would mean Northern Ireland would have to continue to follow EU standards.
And that would mean some food products coming from elsewhere in the UK would be subject to new checks and controls at Northern Ireland ports.
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The Irish Freight Transport Association estimates that the final destination of roughly 60% of the 475,925 freight containers shipped to Britain is Britain itself.
That means the other 40% - roughly 190,000 per year - is destined for elsewhere in the EU, transiting across Britain via ports such as Dover or Hull, or via the Channel Tunnel.
No-one knows the exact number, although Ireland's Department of Transport has commissioned in-depth research that should be released shortly.
But one thing is clear: any kind of breakdown or problem posed by the failure to reach a Brexit agreement could have a huge impact, not just on Ireland's trade with the UK, but also on Ireland's trade with the rest of the EU.
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That's a problem for the EU to find a solution for.