Britain has formally tabled proposals for alternatives to the Irish backstop in an attempt to unlock a Brexit deal with the European Union.
The written submission is understood to have been sent yesterday after talks between Boris Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president.
It is understood to build on Mr Johnson's earlier offer to create an all-Ireland food-and-agricultural zone with a regulatory border in the Irish Sea to protect the EU's single market. However, the EU is being asked to accept a customs tariff border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland without any physical infrastructure on the actual border.
A Downing Street spokesman confirmed the initiative, first reported by Buzzfeed News, but played down its significance. "We have been having detailed discussions with the commission's Taskforce 50 in recent weeks," he said. "We have now shared in written form a series of confidential technical papers which reflect the ideas the UK has been putting forward.
"We will table formal written solutions when we are ready, not according to an artificial deadline, and when the EU is clear that it will engage constructively on them as a replacement for the backstop."
The written submission is understood to have been sent yesterday after talks between Boris Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president.
It is understood to build on Mr Johnson's earlier offer to create an all-Ireland food-and-agricultural zone with a regulatory border in the Irish Sea to protect the EU's single market. However, the EU is being asked to accept a customs tariff border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland without any physical infrastructure on the actual border.
A Downing Street spokesman confirmed the initiative, first reported by Buzzfeed News, but played down its significance. "We have been having detailed discussions with the commission's Taskforce 50 in recent weeks," he said. "We have now shared in written form a series of confidential technical papers which reflect the ideas the UK has been putting forward.
"We will table formal written solutions when we are ready, not according to an artificial deadline, and when the EU is clear that it will engage constructively on them as a replacement for the backstop."
An EU source added that texts with "some ideas and principles on some aspects of the backstop" had been submitted. However, they claimed that it was not clear what the "actual idea is".
Mr Barclay, the Brexit secretary, is due in Brussels tomorrow to discuss the plan directly with Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator.
Today, Barclay called on the EU to be "creative and flexible" in a final bid to get a deal.
In a speech in Madrid he warned that a "purist" approach that forced Northern Ireland to align to all aspects of the EU's single market and customs union would fail, adding that accepting a compromise would be preferable to allowing the economic damage that a no-deal Brexit would do to both the UK and the EU.
"We risk being trapped in a zero-sum game, which will lead to zero outcomes, which I do not want," Barclay told a business audience. "What we need now is a genuine negotiation with creative and flexible solutions from both sides.
"A rigid approach now, at this point, is no way to progress a deal — the responsibility sits with both sides to find a solution.
"We are committed to carving out a landing zone, and we stand ready to share the relevant text. But it must be in the spirit of negotiation, with flexibility, and with a negotiating partner that is willing to compromise."
Mr Barclay also hit out a demand by President Macron of France and Antti Rinne, Finland's prime minister, for the government to table a formal plan by September 31 for any deal to be done.
Mr Rinne, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said: "We both agreed that it is now time for Boris Johnson to produce his own proposals in writing — if they exist. If no proposals are received by the end of September, then it's over."
"We need to know what the UK is proposing. Loose talk about proposals for negotiations is irresponsible . . . The UK should make its possible own proposals very soon if they would like them to be discussed."
But Mr Barclay responded: "We are told the UK must provide legally operative text.
"Yet the alternative to the backstop is not necessary until the end of the implementation period in December 2020.
"And this will be shaped by the future relationship, which is still to be determined. In short, why risk crystallising an undesirable result this November when both sides can work together until December 2020?"
The development came as further public evidence came of a shift in the position of the Democratic Unionist Party. Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, said before an "unplanned" meeting with Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, that she was open to all-Ireland-specific solutions to the backstop.
"What we want to see happening is a recognition that we are on an island," she said. "We recognise the unique history and geography."
She said that her party was looking for a "sensible deal" and it never wanted to inflict no-deal on the province.
Mr Barclay, the Brexit secretary, is due in Brussels tomorrow to discuss the plan directly with Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator.
Today, Barclay called on the EU to be "creative and flexible" in a final bid to get a deal.
In a speech in Madrid he warned that a "purist" approach that forced Northern Ireland to align to all aspects of the EU's single market and customs union would fail, adding that accepting a compromise would be preferable to allowing the economic damage that a no-deal Brexit would do to both the UK and the EU.
"We risk being trapped in a zero-sum game, which will lead to zero outcomes, which I do not want," Barclay told a business audience. "What we need now is a genuine negotiation with creative and flexible solutions from both sides.
"A rigid approach now, at this point, is no way to progress a deal — the responsibility sits with both sides to find a solution.
"We are committed to carving out a landing zone, and we stand ready to share the relevant text. But it must be in the spirit of negotiation, with flexibility, and with a negotiating partner that is willing to compromise."
Mr Barclay also hit out a demand by President Macron of France and Antti Rinne, Finland's prime minister, for the government to table a formal plan by September 31 for any deal to be done.
Mr Rinne, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said: "We both agreed that it is now time for Boris Johnson to produce his own proposals in writing — if they exist. If no proposals are received by the end of September, then it's over."
"We need to know what the UK is proposing. Loose talk about proposals for negotiations is irresponsible . . . The UK should make its possible own proposals very soon if they would like them to be discussed."
But Mr Barclay responded: "We are told the UK must provide legally operative text.
"Yet the alternative to the backstop is not necessary until the end of the implementation period in December 2020.
"And this will be shaped by the future relationship, which is still to be determined. In short, why risk crystallising an undesirable result this November when both sides can work together until December 2020?"
The development came as further public evidence came of a shift in the position of the Democratic Unionist Party. Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, said before an "unplanned" meeting with Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, that she was open to all-Ireland-specific solutions to the backstop.
"What we want to see happening is a recognition that we are on an island," she said. "We recognise the unique history and geography."
She said that her party was looking for a "sensible deal" and it never wanted to inflict no-deal on the province.
