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<p>We are working at pace with the European Commission to secure a future relationship
that meets in full the commitments we made in the December Joint Report on Northern
Ireland. This is reflected fully in our White Paper proposals, which would avoid a
hard border, preserve the integrity of the UK internal market and Northern Ireland’s
place within it, and preserve North-South cooperation in line with the Belfast Agreement.</p><p>It
is rightly the priority on all sides that those issues should be resolved through
our future partnership. But we remain absolutely committed to agreeing a legally operative
backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement alongside a framework for that future relationship.
We have already agreed legal text with the EU on maintaining the Common Travel Area
and associated rights and on protecting North-South cooperation. We have put forward
an alternative proposal on the customs elements of the backstop, the Temporary Customs
Arrangement, that would only come into force in specific and narrow circumstances.
We are now intensifying discussions on both fronts as we look ahead to reaching agreement
in the autumn.</p><p> </p>
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