Despite the risk of reprisals from Europeans, the British government threatened on Tuesday to legislate in the coming weeks to reverse the post-Brexit controls which plunged Northern Ireland into a political crisis.
Despite the risk of reprisals from Europeans, the British government threatened on Tuesday to legislate in the coming weeks to reverse the post-Brexit controls which plunged Northern Ireland into a political crisis. Due to the political impasse in the British province and the disruption in trade between the province and the rest of the United Kingdom, London wishes to renegotiate in depth the Northern Irish protocol concluded at the time of Brexit with the European Union which is only said to be ready for accommodation.
After months of fruitless discussions, the head of diplomacy Liz Truss explained to the deputies that the government intended “to introduce a bill in the coming weeks to make changes to the protocol”. “It’s not about eliminating the protocol” and the proposed legislation is compatible with the United Kingdom’s obligations in international law, insisted the minister about this project which risks triggering the wrath of the EU side. “Our preference remains a negotiated solution with the EU, and alongside the introduction of the legislation, we remain open to further discussions, if we can achieve the same result through a negotiated settlement,” Ms Truss said. The EU has previously warned that reneging on this treaty signed by Boris Johnson knowingly would violate international law and that the United Kingdom would be exposed to severe trade retaliation.
“Good start”
On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he “would like” to resolve the matter “in a consensual manner with our friends and partners” in the EU, adding however that the UK also needed “assurance” of a “legislative solution at the same time”. The Tory leader was speaking during a visit to Northern Ireland, where he tried to convince the various political parties to find a compromise and “get back to work”. Because since the historic victory of the Sinn Fein Republicans in the local elections on May 5, the Northern Irish institutions have been at a standstill.
Unionists in the DUP refuse to participate in the local executive, which was supposed to be shared under the 1998 peace agreement that ended three decades of bloody conflict, known as the “Troubles”. And they blocked the local Assembly by refusing to designate a new candidate. Unionists thus intend to press for modification of the Northern Irish protocol, the agreement signed between London and Brussels to respond to the delicate question of the border between British Northern Ireland and the European Republic of Ireland after Brexit.
This text creates a de facto customs border with Great Britain and threatens, according to them, the place of the province within the United Kingdom to which they are viscerally attached. At the heart of the political standoff, the leader of the unionist DUP party, Jeffrey Donaldson, described the government announcements as a “good start” but called for “actions” and not just “words”. Sinn Fein Republicans strongly oppose a British bill. The bill announced on Tuesday provides for goods circulating and remaining within the United Kingdom to pass through a “new green channel”, freeing them from administrative procedures. Goods destined for the EU will remain subject to all checks and controls applied under EU law.
‘Businesses will be able to choose between meeting UK or EU standards in a new dual regulatory regime,’ Ms Truss said. To address EU concerns over the protection of the single market, London promises to share more data. A neighbor of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, is also worried about the consequences of a possible unilateral British decision. “Any unilateral action is harmful,” Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin tweeted on Monday, calling for a solution through negotiation. Northern Irish institutions had already experienced three years of paralysis, against the backdrop of a financial scandal, before an agreement allowed the restoration of their operation in January 2020.