What is the British government playing in Northern Ireland? Is he really trying to find a solution to make life easier for Northern Irish people by easing the constraints of the Irish Sea border imposed by Brexit? These questions are on everyone’s mind in Dublin and Brussels as David Frost, Boris Johnson’s Minister for Europe, had to reject in advance, during a speech in Lisbon on Tuesday, October 12, proposals that the European Commission will publish. Wednesday 13 October.
At the request of London, the community institution is however ready to substantially revise the “Northern Irish protocol”, the part of the Brexit treaty adjusting the dual status of the province (member of the United Kingdom but still with a foothold in the market European interior). Brussels could offer a considerable reduction in customs controls for products from Great Britain destined only for Northern Ireland.
But David Frost has already indicated that his proposals will be insufficient as long as the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) retains a right of scrutiny over Northern Ireland. However, this is a red line within the European institutions, where it is repeated that the internal market is only viable if those who benefit from it – including the British province – are subject to the same rules and therefore to the Luxembourg Court. CJEU “Created a very strong imbalance in the way the protocol works”, Mr Frost was to say from Lisbon. “Without new arrangements on this point, the protocol will never have the support it needs to survive”, was to add the one who approved the protocol on behalf of the Johnson government at the end of 2019.
The Commission’s proposals, before the Twenty-Seven fix the details, largely respond to the concern of local economic players to reduce their obligations in terms of red tape. “By making a fairly attractive offer, notes a Brussels diplomat, the Commission seeks to introduce a wedge between the Northern Irish and London. “ Clearly, to convince the British province that Brussels is not the rigid and doctrinal body described by Boris Johnson and that the Commission wants to simplify the lives of its inhabitants when, opposite, London is pursuing an ideological policy.
“European outstretched hand”
“If the Commission’s proposals are indeed these, there is no longer any basis to activate Article 16”, judge the macronist MEP Nathalie Loiseau, referring to the clause of the protocol allowing its unilateral suspension that Mr. Frost regularly threatens to activate. “It’s interesting that Northern Ireland is doing a lot better than the rest of the UK – there is no shortage. This is a real-time illustration of the advantages of being in the single market ”, we report to the Commission. Mr. Frost “Seems more interested in the political posture than in making the protocol work. People and businesses in Northern Ireland are fed up with his repeated threats and the uncertainty they harbor ”, lamented Louise Haigh, Minister for Northern Ireland in the shadow cabinet of Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor opposition, on Monday.
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