Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
Why would there have to be a border in Ireland? The Common Travel Area isn't based on the EU iirc.
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If the UK exits the customs union then there will have to be border checks of some sort. The common travel area predates the EU but since its inception, until 1993 when customs checks between EU member states were abolished, there were legal provisions for customs checks on travellers crossing between the UK and Ireland. These were not always strictly enforced but they existed. The principle of the CTA is freedom to cross the border without a passport. It was never a common market or a customs union. Those things have only ever existed between the UK and Ireland due to us both being members of the EU.
If we have a situation where a separate Scotland and RoI are in the EU, and the customs union, and the UK is not, then there will be legal structures in place for customs checks on the borders, just as there were before 1993. That situation is not incompatible with a continuation of the Common Travel Area of the British Isles.