Backstop in focus at May-Juncker meeting

By Ata Ufuk Seker

BRUSSELS (AA) – British Prime Minister Theresa May said she stressed the need for "legally binding changes" during her meeting Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to ensure the contentious Irish backstop would not be indefinite.

Following the meeting in Brussels, May told journalists that such a measure would be necessary for any Brexit deal to pass in parliament.

"Time is of the essence, and it's in both our interests that when the UK leaves the EU, it does so in an orderly way," May said, adding the country’s attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, would engage in further talks in Brussels on Thursday.

As the UK will leave the bloc, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will remain the only land border between the UK and the European Union.

The border at the moment is invisible, and people, goods and services can travel through it freely. But as the UK leaves the EU, the border, technically, will need some sort of checks.

Due to the sensitive nature of the region and because free passage is one of the crucial articles of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the UK, EU, Northern Ireland and Ireland all reject the idea of returning to a hard border where checkpoints and customs buildings will need to be installed.

The main disagreement over the border issue has been over the EU-suggested backstop -- keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union after Brexit until a solution is found -- because it would create a sort of border within the UK in the Irish Sea.