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Why is a compromise so elusive?
The Achilles heel of the entire Brexit process is the border between Ireland, a member of the European Union, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. For years, this border has been militarized and is central to The Troubles, the sectarian violence that has claimed the lives of more than 3,500 people. But the militarized border was removed after the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement and trade was allowed to flow freely between the two sides.
This was possible because Ireland and the United Kingdom were members of the European Union. But when Britain decided to leave, the Irish border became a problem again. The possibility of reintroducing border controls posed a myriad of economic, political and historical problems.
To solve the problem, Mrs May's draft agreement proposes to keep Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom in a European customs union, potentially indefinitely or until the conclusion of a definitive trade agreement. But that means Britain would still be subject to some of the bloc's trade rules and regulations.
In short, while paying a $ 50 billion divorce bill, Britain would be bound by many rules of the European Union in the foreseeable future without any intervention in their development. It would also be subject to a certain extent to the European Court of Justice.
This infuriates the tough Brexit crowd, which claims that Britain would leave Britain as a "vassal state".
But they are not the only ones to be offended by this arrangement. The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which has 10 essential seats to support May's minority government, is also armed.
Indeed, the plan would impose more European rules on Northern Ireland than on the rest of the United Kingdom. The UK, which wants to stay in the United Kingdom, sees the draft agreement as an existential threat that would place a new frontier in the Irish Sea, putting Northern Ireland in a de facto union with Ireland.
