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At the EU Summit today, the UK Government and European Commission agreed a revised Brexit deal, reaching agreement on the key outstanding issue of the Irish backstop and revising the terms of the future relationship. The European Commission has asked the European Council to endorse the revised Withdrawal Agreement and revised Political Declaration on the future relationship and the European Parliament to give its consent to both. It is anticipated, although not yet certain, that the European Council will agree the deal during this EU Summit.

The fact that the UK Government and European Commission have reached agreement on a revised Brexit deal is an enormous development in the Brexit process. However, as we explain below, this does not mean that the risks of a no-deal Brexit have been eliminated, nor that the Brexit process is finished. It is far from over.

The compromise on the Irish backstop

On 2 October 2019, the UK's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, wrote to the European Commission President, Mr Juncker, to set out the UK's plan for resolving the Irish backstop issue. The Irish backstop had become the remaining sticking point, albeit extremely challenging, for the EU and UK to agree in relation to the Withdrawal Agreement that is required for an orderly exit from the EU.

We have discussed various options for resolving the Irish backstop over the last couple of years, most recently here and here.

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Nihar Lovell

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Eric White

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