The Irish border problem at the first stage of Brexit.

Abstract

The article deals with one of the main issues related to the UK’s exit from the European Union, the issue of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This was a key problem at Brexit’s first round. The issue of a hard or a soft UK-Irish border has been not only a bone of contention for the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, but also the serious internal political challenge for the Teresa May’ government. It is noted that it is important for the United Kingdom to have no regulatory deviations from the rules of the internal market and the customs union that are or may be in need for North-South cooperation in the future. If the Belfast Agreement is violated, the United Kingdom will be forced to pay the political price of an unsuccessful peace process. Simultaneously Brexit caused a rather negative reaction in the Irish political circles. The main non-tariff problem for the Irish border is the standards of food and agricultural products. Also, after the Belfast Agreement of 1998, the EU invested heavily in supporting border communities for the development of small business and industry. This improved the economic situation in the area of the former conflict and facilitated the border dialogue. But this also led to the fact that many enterprises were oriented towards the EU market or border trade. Many people are now considering plans to move south if a tight border will set. After the EU summit on December 14-15, 2017, the second stage of the negotiations has began, when the parties should agree on the configuration of the two-year transition period and on future relations between the United Kingdom and the EU, especially in the area of security and trade. The article concludes that the Irish issue is agreed upon by the parties only temporarily and in the course of future negotiations will be repeated on the agenda.