The European Union (EU) has rejected the United Kingdom’s (UK) demand for a “standstill period” to renegotiate a post-Brexit trade deal involving Northern Ireland. The deal mandates checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from mainland Britain; both parties agreed on the deal a year ago, and it was signed and approved by the British Parliament in December 2020.
The trade deal involving Northern Ireland, also known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, was included in the Brexit settlement and was backed by British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson. The Protocol finalised Britain’s exit from the EU after citizens voted to leave the Union four years earlier in a referendum. However, the demand for renegotiation comes amid reports of “rioting and business disruption” in Northern Ireland, along with some pro-British groups claiming that the Protocol is weakening ties with Britain.
On Wednesday, Brexit Minister David Frost said, “We cannot go on as we are. London wanted a new balance to eliminate the EU oversight of the accord, and that Britain already had the right to deviate from parts of it unilaterally.” Frost added that the arrangement was not working as per Britain’s expectations and thus justified the country’s demand to invoke Article 16 of the Protocol, which “allows either side to dispense with its terms if they are proving unexpectedly harmful.” In this regard, the Minister said, “We see an opportunity to proceed differently, to find a new path to seek to agree with the EU through negotiations, a new balance in our arrangements covering Northern Ireland, to the benefit of all.”
Moreover, Brandon Lewis, Secretary for Northern Ireland, said, “The UK had negotiated the protocol in good faith, its real-world application by the EU had entailed considerable and continuing burdens.” The Secretary pressed for fresh dialogue to address the concerns of all parties.
On the contrary, the Vice President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, rejected the UK’s demand for redrawing the Protocol. He said Johnson and Frost negotiated the deal themselves and asked Britain to respect “international legal obligation.” Šefčovič said, “We are ready to continue to seek creative solutions, within the framework of the protocol, in the interest of all communities in Northern Ireland.”
The EU has refused to amend the Protocol, citing fear of goods entering its single market via the “hard-to-police” frontier between Britain and EU member Ireland without meeting regulatory standards. The Protocol suggests an open border “without opening a back door through neighbouring Ireland to the EU’s single market of 450 million people” to maintain peace brought by a peace accord brokered by the United States in 1998. In addition, the Protocol mandates a check on goods between the British mainland and Northern Ireland, which falls under the jurisdiction of the EU customs.
The provisions of the Protocol and red tape on goods has proved to be burdensome for Ireland. To counter this, the UK proposed an alternative to the EU that restricts border checks to goods “genuinely at risk of entering its single market via Northern Ireland.” The UK suggested a “light touch to preserve Northern Ireland’s integral status as part of the UK” for remaining goods. Furthermore, it proposed the removal of the EU and European Court of Justice’s oversight. However, the Union remains adamant on “preserv[ing] the integrity of its single market” and believes that the UK is operating in bad faith.
EU Refuses to Renegotiate Post-Brexit Deal With UK on Northern Ireland
The European Union has rejected the United Kingdom’s demand to renegotiate Northern Ireland Protocol, which mandates check on goods crossing over from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.
July 22, 2021
SOURCE: FINANCIAL TIMES