EU internal doc acquired by Reuters
- EU prepared to offer UK free trade but not Chequers plan
- Cross border supply chains will not operate seamlessly
- Chemical, auto, pharma and agriculture will be most affected
- Chequers proposal would give UK unfair advantage
- EU and Britain should have free trade areas between them but it cannot extend to whole of Britain
- Free trade area in Northern Ireland is acceptable because N Ireland is small, much less of a competitive threat than Britain
- There will be customs border, even if simplified
There's some good news here. It looks like the EU is open to a separate deal with Northern Ireland compared to Britain. That would help to solve Irish border problems.
Update: here's the full story.
