EU unhappy with UK have cake and eat it proposal

[BlasterBates]

Again, you’re projecting your preferred outcome, but a Swiss-style deal is absolutely not on the table. It has always been extremely clear that this wasn’t an option. The EU isn’t BSing on this. They don’t even want it for the Swiss. Remain is far more likely than a Swiss pattern when the EU offers EEA or CETA.

Not my preferred outcome, I don't really have one, why should I be bothered I don't live in the UK

It is however so evident particularly after the divorce cave in that a Swiss style deal is the most likely outcome.

May's government reportedly now wants a Swiss-style Brexit deal - Business Insider Deutschland

[northernladyuk]

This might be a tough one. I started out writing this:



before trying to figure out what regulatory alignment means for people.

FoM of people (regardless of whether for labour or not) means no border, and could be achieved by pushing the "labour" requirement onto businesses by, say, having them check eligibility at the time of employment. No border, but imposing additional requirements on business to check eligibility to work in the UK (including NI).

But what part of this is regulatory, and requires alignment with the EU? For example, if regulatory alignment between the RoI and NI means that RoI nationals can work across the border, then by extension this means that RoI citizens must be able to work in rUK.

And if this applies to RoI nationals, then by extension that means that all EU nationals should be able to work in NI and therefore rUK?

Is this "regulatory"? Or are there some other semantics that they are using that somehow includes FoM of labour between RoI and NI for RoI and NI nationals, but excludes other EU nationals (that are perfectly entitled to live and work in RoI)?

Or, more likely, is May saying one thing to Varadkar / the DUP / Barnier, and another to the Ultras in the Tory party to try to play both along and kick the can further down the road? It's only taken 24 hours for it to start to unravel anyway:

Cabinet Brexit truce threatens to unravel as Leavers 'told concession to EU meaningless'

The rights of Irish nationals to live and work in the UK predate eu membership and the principles underpinning them derive largely from the Ireland Act 1949 which enshrines in British law that 'Ireland is not a foreign country'. The rights are almost all reciprocated. There is no reason to think that continuing the rights of Irish citizens in the UK would imply any rights for other EU citizens.