Brexit declaration aimed at helping Theresa May in parliament

The word "backstop" gets only one mention. "The Parties recall their determination to replace the backstop solution on Northern Ireland by a subsequent agreement that establishes alternative arrangements for ensuring the absence of a hard border on the island of Ireland on a permanent footing."

The political declaration on the future relationship between the EU and UK, an aspirational document without the binding legal force of the withdrawal agreement with which it will be agreed at a summit in Brussels on Sunday, has clearly been drafted mainly to assist Theresa May. The British PM must persuade MPs – Tory, DUP and Labour – to support her when the two documents come to the Commons.

It combines EU red line positions with copious implied references to her Chequers speech.

It ticks many of the key boxes for her. Free trade without tariffs or quotas – tick. Security co-operation – tick. “Ambitious” but separate relationship – tick. Regulatory and legal autonomy – tick. Immigration controls – tick.

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And on Northern Ireland and its controversial backstop, a solid commitment to a frictionless border, an acknowledgment that all sides hope never to use the backstop and that there are possible acceptable "alternative arrangements".

This has been Downing Street’s mantra over the last few days. May will certainly be able to say the EU has been listening.

Importantly, however, the declaration does not supersede or replace the withdrawal agreement and its legally binding commitment to the backstop. The insurance policy remains in place, although, as Irish officials emphasise, the UK is free to explore alternative approaches as long as they provide the same level of safeguard for the non-border. And as long as those alternative approaches are acceptable to the EU as sufficient to protect its single market.

The document also reiterates that “The Parties recall their shared commitment to delivering a future PEACE PLUS programme to sustain work on reconciliation and a shared future in Northern Ireland, maintaining the current funding proportions for the future programme.

It continues: "Both Parties affirm that the achievements, benefits and commitments of the peace process in Northern Ireland will remain of paramount importance to peace, stability and reconciliation. They agree that the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement reached on 10 April 1998 by the United Kingdom Government, the Irish Government and the other participants in the multi-party negotiations (the "1998 Agreement") must be protected in all its parts, and that this extends to the practical application of the 1998 Agreement on the island of Ireland and to the totality of the relationships set out in the 1998 Agreement."

The declaration calls for “an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic cooperation, law enforcement and criminal justice, foreign policy, security and defence and wider areas of cooperation based on a balance of rights and obligations, taking into account the principles of each Party.

“This balance must ensure the autonomy of the Union’ s decision making and be consistent with the Union’s principles, in particular with respect to the integrity of the Single Market and the Customs Union and the indivisibility of the four freedoms.”