“Belfast will deal with Brexit”
Ireland’s prime minister accuses London of “vandalism”.
6/19/2022, 6:37 p.m
The British government likes to present itself as Northern Ireland’s advocate: Because the economy is said to be suffering from the Brexit agreement, Great Britain unilaterally changes the agreement with the EU. Ireland’s prime minister disagrees, accusing London of “economic vandalism”.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin has warned the British government against using national legislation to undermine the Brexit agreements on Northern Ireland. Above all, London’s plan to allow both British and EU product standards in Northern Ireland is “economic vandalism,” Martin told the BBC. Contrary to what London claims, the economy in Northern Ireland is coping very well with the agreed regulations.
The government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented a bill last Monday that is intended to unilaterally change the provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol agreed in the Brexit Treaty. London wants to force Brussels to reopen the agreement that was only agreed in 2019. The EU Commission strictly excludes this and instead wants to negotiate solutions within the framework of the existing agreement.
Among other things, London is threatening to replace the goods controls agreed in the protocol to protect the EU internal market with a voluntary regulation. In addition, the role of the European Court of Justice is to be drastically restricted. London also wants to give itself a free hand when it comes to VAT regulations. According to a large number of experts, this would be a clear breach of international law. However, the government in London denies this.
EU initiates infringement procedures
The British government originally approved the protocol to prevent controls at the inner-Irish border, as this could endanger the peace process in the former troubled region. Now London is arguing that the Northern Ireland Protocol is undermining peace in the region by paralyzing the government there.
The pro-British DUP party has been blocking the formation of a government in Northern Ireland for weeks and is calling for the Protocol to be abolished. The EU Commission initiated infringement proceedings against London on Wednesday.