Brexit `Mac Fac' Brexit Plan Worthy of Willy Wonka, Senator Says

(Bloomberg) -- An Irish Senator quipped that “max fac,” one of Britain’s ideas to solve the border impasse in Brexit talks, is so outlandish it might have been designed by Willy Wonka, the childrens’ book character.

The “maximum facilitation” or “max fac” proposal would try to minimize -- but not eliminate -- border checks on goods, through the smart use of technology and “trusted trader” schemes for cross-border business operators.

The technology won’t be ready for “decades” and carries enormous costs, Neale Richmond, who chairs the Irish Senate’s Brexit committee, said at an event in Dublin on Wednesay.

Richmond called on the U.K. to deliver its proposals to keep the Irish border open by the time European Union leaders gather at the end of June, saying the clock is ticking down to find a solution. The EU is weighing a much stronger warning on the risk of Brexit talks collapsing without a deal if the U.K. fails to lay out its position in more detail next month, said a person familiar with the matter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net

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