Brexit:

Posted by Jim on June 13, 2022

PM to unveil plans to scrap parts of NI Protocol agreed with EU

https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.44.15/iframe.htmlMedia caption,

The PM says the protocol is “upsetting the balance of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement” ahead of changes to be announced

Boris Johnson will later publish plans to scrap parts of the post-Brexit deal he struck with the EU in 2020.

The PM wants to change the Protocol section of the deal to make it easier for some goods to move between Britain and Northern Ireland.

But the EU is against the move, saying it would break international law.

The UK insists its proposals – to be set out in a parliamentary bill – are legal and will secure the future of the United Kingdom.

The two sides agreed the Protocol as they strived to maintain peace in Ireland – including the open Irish border – following Brexit.

The Republic of Ireland is still part of the EU’s single market for goods and services, which the UK has left.

Rather than impose a hard border – involving checks on goods and people moving between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic – the protocol introduces checks on some goods travelling from from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which won the second-most seats in the recent Northern Ireland Assembly elections, argues this creates a divide that could lead to the break-up of the UK.

It is refusing to set up a new ruling Northern Ireland executive with Sinn Féin, which won most seats in the elections and accepts the protocol, until changes are made to the wording.

The UK government, despite signing up to the agreement in January 2020, has also raised concerns, prompting the publication of its bill later on Monday.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he was confident it would be lawful for the UK to make changes to the protocol without the EU being involved, and that he expected the DUP to form an executive with Sinn Féin after the bill was published.

There’s been a long build up to this legislation which will, this week, generate a lot of noise.

The EU won’t “sit by and watch the UK tear up a treaty”, warned one Brussels diplomat.

The European Commission is expected to relaunch legal action against the UK, which was previously paused, once it’s had a chance to analyse the bill.

That’s seen as a first step or “low-hanging fruit”.

But the commission is also likely, before long, to outline further “flexibilities” around its own proposals for easing checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

It won’t be anything like the more fundamental rewriting of the treaty that the UK’s calling for but officials on both sides have signalled that they don’t see today’s legislation as ending any prospect of further talks.

In fact, some in Brussels view this bill, that’s further exposed splits in a fractious Tory party, as a clumsy UK negotiating tactic.

There’s speculation too that Liz Truss is trying to burnish her leadership credentials with some Conservative Brexit supporters.

But allies of the foreign secretary insist that, behind this potential law, there is a far simpler logic; if the EU won’t renegotiate a treaty that is causing huge problems in Northern Ireland, then the UK government is obliged to act.

Putting questions around blame and motives aside, one clear outcome of today looks set to be a further deterioration in post-Brexit relations between the UK and the EU.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič discussed the UK government’s plan on Monday morning.

Afterwards, Ms Truss said she wanted to “fix the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol and restore political stability”, adding that Brussels must be “willing to change”.

But Mr Šefčovič tweeted that the UK’s actions were “damaging to mutual trust and a formula for uncertainty”.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said it was “impossible” to make a judgement call on proposed changes to the protocol until the final draft of the bill, which appeared to be “a changing feast”, was published.

Sinn Féin leader Mary-Lou McDonald told Sky News the UK legislation would break international law and cause “huge, huge damage” to the Northern Irish and Irish economies.

And Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin called for negotiations between the UK and EU to deal with the impasse.

He described the UK government’s decision to change the protocol as a “low point”, which was was “very regrettable”.

“Announcing the unilateral breaching of an international agreement is pretty serious stuff and can’t be just put aside,” Mr Martin said.

“It goes to the heart of trust and the European Union needs a trusted partner to negotiate with.”

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

• The Northern Ireland Protocol is part of the Brexit deal: it means lorries don’t face checkpoints when they go from Northern Ireland (in the UK) to the Republic of Ireland (in the EU)
• Instead, when goods arrive in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK (England, Scotland and Wales), they are checked against EU rules
• The UK and the EU chose this arrangement because the Irish border is a sensitive issue due to Northern Ireland’s troubled political history

Read more: A simple guide to the Brexit border problem

The bill published later is expected to aim to remove checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain that are destined to remain there rather than enter the Irish Republic.

Under the plans, businesses in Northern Ireland would be able to chose between sticking to either EU or UK standards, as well as UK VAT and state aid rules applying in Northern Ireland.

It is also expected there would be a more limited rule for the European Court of Justice.