Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the ability of the EU to reach a legally binding agreement with the UK on a future trading relationship across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including a border in the Irish Sea, in advance of the UK leaving the EU.

The future UK-EU trading relationship, which we are clear should ensure frictionless trade and avoid the need for a hard border, will need to be provided for in an agreement to be concluded once the the UK has left the EU. The EU will conclude the agreement under the procedure in Article 218 TFEU. The Withdrawal Agreement, which will include a legally operative Northern Ireland Protocol, needs to come into force when the UK leaves the EU. The PM has made clear that the customs solution in the Northern Ireland Protocol should be legally binding and UK wide, to ensure there is no scope for a customs border down the Irish Sea.