The UK's prime minister is preparing to head back to the EU in a bid to renegotiate key parts of her Brexit deal. But Brussels has said the deal "is not open for renegotiation," paving the way for a head-on collision.
"We continue to urge the UK government to clarify its intentions with respect to the next steps as soon as possible," said a spokesman for European Council President Donald Tusk.
"The backstop is part of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation."
Tusk's spokesman was referring to the Irish border backstop, a measure included in the draft Brexit deal to prevent a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and the UK's Northern Ireland.
"The Withdrawal Agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union."
Despite Brussels' repeated assertions that there is no room for fresh negotiations, the British parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of an amendment that sees May heading to Brussels to find an "alternative arrangement" to the Irish backstop.
The backstop would keep Northern Ireland (and by extension the UK) in the EU customs union in order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
May, who backed the demands in a major policy shift on the deal, said there was "limited appetite" in the EU to renegotiate parts of the draft accord.
"It won't be easy," May said. "But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this house has made it clear what it needs to approve the withdrawal agreement."
German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass said that Britain must come up with concrete proposals over the Irish border.
What the British envision changing in the backstop is so far unclear, he said.
"On the issue of the backstop Germany and the entire EU are on Ireland's side," he told the Funke Media Group. "We will not allow Ireland to be isolated on this issue."
Roderich Kiesewetter, a foreign affairs lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, said that Theresa May was "under pressure," and that the UK was taking the "wrong approach."
"We have another eight weeks and we should really avoid a hard Brexit," he said. "We should invest all our energy to keep a kind of tarif and customs union and nothing else. There will be no further room of maneuver."
The Green party's Jürgen Trittin accused Britain of "transparent scapegoating."
"It's clear that we won't accept a militarized border in Ireland," he said. That was always the EU's position and it is not in British interests either."
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney doubled down on the EU's position, saying: "We hope (the backstop) will never be used, or be replaced quickly by a future relationship agreement. But it is necessary and tonight's developments at Westminster do nothing to change this."
May has pledged to renegotiate the deal or head back to parliament to vote for a new way forward on February 13. But some say it could be too little, too late, with the March 29 Brexit deadline inching closer without a deal in sight.
The 499-kilometer Irish border wasn't originally intended to be an international frontier. Since the Republic of Ireland was created, the situation at the border has mirrored the changing nature of Anglo-Irish relations.
Image: imago/UIG
The Irish Free State
Britain's response to Irish demands for independence was devolution within the UK, or home rule. Pro-British Unionists didn't want to be governed by Dublin, so two parliaments were set up, for Northern and Southern Ireland. However, nationalists still pushed for full independence and in 1922 Southern Ireland was superseded by the Irish Free State as enshrined in the Anglo-Irish Treaty (pictured).
Image: Getty Images/Topical Press Agency
The Six Counties
Northern Ireland had been carved in a way that allowed Protestant loyalists to stay in control, but also ensure the region was large enough to be viable. It included four majority-Protestant counties in the ancient province of Ulster, as well as the two Catholic nationalist counties. Three of Ulster's counties — Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan — were placed on the Southern Ireland side of the border.
No laughing matter?
Involving members of the British, Irish and devolved Belfast governments, a 1924-25 boundary commission looked at the whether the border should stay where it was. It broadly remained in the same place, often cutting through communities across its 310 miles. The Spike Milligan novel "Puckoon," made into a film (above), charted the problems brought to a fictional Irish village divided by the border.
The new border's checkpoints initially regulated the movement of certain goods, with movement of people being free. However, the Anglo-Irish Trade War of the 1930s saw tariffs imposed on foods and later coal and steel. The dispute ended in 1936, but Ireland still pursued protectionist policies into the 1950s. Customs stayed in place until the advent of the EU Single Market in 1993.
Image: picture alliance/AP Images/S. Smart
Bloody legacy
With an escalation in fighting in Northern Ireland in 1969, British troops were sent to the province, fueling nationalist resentment. The border was heavily guarded to stop weapons smuggling from the Republic. The South Armagh stretch was particularly notorious. The Irish Republican Army's South Armagh Brigade is thought to have killed about 165 British troops and police from 1970 to 1997.
Image: picture alliance/empics/PA
South of the Border
The border was also policed by the Republic of Ireland's security forces, who intensified their anti-terror efforts in the late 1970s. They worked with the British, but the working relationship was not an easy one. To communicate with Irish counterparts, British troops at one time had to speak to the Northern Irish police, who would contact the Irish police, who would then call the Irish army.
Image: picture alliance/empics/PA
Watchtowers and rifle sights
Despite the end of customs in 1993, the threat of terror still loomed and the border remained militarized, with watchtowers and soldiers. After the 1998 Good Friday Agreement — which brought back devolved government to Northern Ireland and sought to address issues such as policing and paramilitarism — the IRA eventually halted its campaign of violence as border security disappeared.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. McErlane
Barely noticeable
The border today remains as invisible as it has ever been, with free movement of traffic between the Republic and the North. The picture shows two policemen, one British, one Irish, watching as a foreign leg of the Giro d'Italia crosses the border in Armagh.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. McErlane
Anything to declare?
There were fears that Brexit would make a hard border necessary, given that Britain has left both the EU Customs Union and Single Market. The border issue was one of three conditions laid out by the EU for talks on future trade after the separation. Campaigners, like those pictured above, had sought to remind the public of what a hard border would look like.
Image: picture alliance/empics/N. Carson/PA Wire
Border in the Irish Sea
Customs officials check freight trucks as they disembark from a ferry at the Northern Irish port of Larne. The inspections effectively created a customs border in the Irish Sea, avoiding the need for checks on land. The arrangement has led to supply problems for some businesses. However, it has been touted as good for Northern Ireland, giving firms there free access to both the UK and EU markets.
