Is EU Single Market membership part of the backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement?
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I guess this question can have different answers depending whether one interprets membership as full membership or just some level of access. I assumed the former (much shorter answer, ha ha). If someone wants to give you the full details on the latter...– FizzApr 7, 2019 at 19:16
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1I briefly mentioned some of those issues in an older answer politics.stackexchange.com/a/39453/18373– FizzApr 7, 2019 at 19:24
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1 Answer
No, it's not. A customs union doesn't equal the Single Market. Not even the Customs Union equals that. Turkey is such an example. Crucially, the Single Market includes freedom of movement for labor, which is not included in the Customs Union.
Under the backstop Northern Ireland will basically apply the full code of the Customs Union, while the rest of the UK will be in a less encompassing one.
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1There are also some extra conditions on services (e.g. electrical supply) of Northern Ireland under the backstop, which place it closer to the single market.– origimboApr 7, 2019 at 19:09
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@Relaxed: does the backstop include freedom of movement of EU labor (not just Irish) into Northern Ireland?– FizzApr 7, 2019 at 19:14
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Not downvoting because the answer is correct. But Turkey's position is not exactly enviable from a trade deal standpoint, and insofar as I'm aware there are some parts of the Single Market that still apply, like food safety or fishing rights (and if I am not mistaking submitting to the ECJ for those things). Apr 7, 2019 at 19:14
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@Relaxed: because that (freedom of movement for labor) was the main difference I was trying to convey here. Like I said in a comment under the question, it's also reasonable to assume that by "membership" he meant just some level of Single Market access (or possibly even some level of harmonization), but I assumed he meant full membership.– FizzApr 9, 2019 at 7:05