Mr Barnier suggested a proposal similar to arrangements between Spain and the Canary Islands, which involves a control of the goods between the British province and the rest of the country.
The EU negotiator outlined in a speech on Wednesday at a meeting of European businessmen in the European Parliament his plan to “de-dramatise” the Northern Ireland issue and argued checks could happen, for the most part, away from the border.
He said: “For customs and VAT checks, we propose using the existing customs transit procedures, companies in the rest of the UK would fill in their customs declarations online and in advance when shipping goods to Northern Ireland.
“Regulatory checks, on industrial goods could be carried out by market surveillance authorities in the market or at the premises of companies in Northern Ireland.”
But he insists there must still be some alignment between the North and South of Ireland.
There would also need to be border controls between the EU and the rest of the UK to meet regulatory standards.
The reformulated approach will mean light regulatory checks on the Irish Sea, no internal border in Ireland and full border controls on the Channel.
Mr Barnier added: “The UK wants to and will leave the single market and the customs union.
“This means that there must be checks on goods travelling between the EU and the UK – checks that do not exist today. Customs and VAT checks, and compliance checks with our standards to protect our consumers, our economic traders and your businesses.
“We have agreed with the UK that these checks cannot be performed at the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
“A crucial question is, therefore, where they will take place. The EU is committed to respecting the territorial integrity and constitutional order of the UK, just like the UK has committed to respecting the integrity of our Single Market, including Ireland, obviously.
“Therefore, the EU proposes to carry out these checks in the least intrusive way possible.
These arrangements exist for many EU member states, in particular the canaries.
The news was met with optimism as the markets welcomed the statements, but there is still concern about the formula to be applied to the Irish border.
This means there is still uncertainty over the real options of reaching an agreement before the European Council meeting on October 18.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.