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<p>The agreement preserves the economic and constitutional integrity of the United
Kingdom, upholds the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, and ensures people and businesses
that rely on an open border between the Northern Ireland and Ireland can continue
living their lives and operating as they do now. It does so through a temporary single
UK-EU customs territory or through an option to extend the implementation period for
a short period of time until the new economic relationship is in place.</p><p>The
Government is clear the backstop is an insurance policy that no-one ever wants to
come into effect. Both the UK and the EU are fully committed to having our future
relationship in place by 1st January 2021 and the Withdrawal Agreement has a legal
duty on both sides to use best endeavours to avoid the backstop ever coming into force.
Despite this, if the future relationship is not ready by the end of 2020, the UK would
not be forced to use the backstop. The UK would have a clear choice between the backstop
or a short extension to the Implementation Period. If the backstop was entered into,
the legal text is clear that it should be temporary and that the Article 50 legal
base cannot provide for a permanent relationship. There is also a termination clause,
which allows the backstop to be turned off when we have fulfilled our commitments
on the Northern Ireland border, and there is a unilateral right to trigger a review
through the Joint Committee and the ability to seek independent arbitration if the
EU does not use good faith in this process.</p>
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