Northern Ireland will maintain a special relationship with the European Union until 2025, but will leave the European Customs Union with the rest of the United Kingdom. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present that formal proposal on Wednesday, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.
The plans, which, according to the newspaper, were sent to various European capitals on Tuesday, mean that there will be two borders for five years: a customs check between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and a regulatory border through the Irish Sea, between Northern Ireland and the British island.
As a result, Northern Ireland will remain part of the European internal market within which agricultural and food products can be transported without border controls.
After five years, the Parliament of Northern Ireland will have to decide whether it wants to remain part of the EU or whether it will follow the British rules.
Northern Irish satisfied, Ireland skeptical
According to The Guardian, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is largely satisfied with the proposals and party leader Arlene Foster would support the plans.
The foreign minister Simon Coveney of EU member Ireland, however, questions the plans, which he sees as no basis for a deal.
Johnson will present his plans on Wednesday. According to Reuters news agency, the prime minister will also make it clear that the negotiations are over and that the UK will leave the European Union without a deal on 31 October if Brussels does not want to discuss these proposals.