Stormont on hold as EU draft includes North in trade zone

Posted by Jim on February 28, 2018

Stormont on hold as EU draft includes North in trade zone

The European Union has published its fallback plan to effectively keep
the north of Ireland in the single market and customs union after
Brexit, in a 120-page draft withdrawal agreement.

The Six Counties would be considered part of the EU’s customs territory
after Brexit, with checks required on goods coming in from Britain,
under the text produced by the European Commission.

Other trade legislation will also apply to ensure the North stays
aligned with the 26 Counties and the rest of the EU.

“A common regulatory area comprising the Union and the United Kingdom in
respect of Northern Ireland is hereby established,” the draft says. “The
common regulatory area shall constitute an area without internal borders
in which the free movement of goods is ensured and North-South
cooperation protected.”

At a press conference in Brussels, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator
Michel Barnier said nothing in the text should be a surprise given what
was agreed between in December between the EU and the British
government.

The draft text gives legal effect to the pre-Christmas deal on the
issues of citizens’ rights post Brexit, the financial settlement between
the EU and UK, and issues specific to the island of Ireland.

It has been agreed among the remaining 27 EU members but is still
subject to negotiation with London The DUP, which supports Ms May in a
confidence and supply agreement in Westminster, has already objected to
the contents of the text.

There is no mention in the paper of Britain’s promise in the initial
negotiations in December to maintain regulatory harmony between the
north of Ireland and the island of Britain. Brussels regards that as a
domestic deal brokered by the London government with the DUP.

Mr Barnier said discussions on other options — including British ideas
for a ‘frictionless’ border or an overall trade deal — could continue
in parallel.

“My attitude is and always will be: key calm and be pragmatic,” he said,
adding that he would meet Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein and Arlene
Foster of the DUP next week.

He insisted “daily life around the border should continue as before…
we stand by our commitment to discuss all three options.”

Welcoming the text, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon
Coveney, said the protocol gives legal effect to the firm commitments
made in December, but added it is “very much a default and would only
apply should it prove necessary”.

He said: “We have always been clear that our preference is to avoid a
hard border through a wider future relationship agreement between the EU
and the UK, a view we share with the British government.”

A new ‘hard border’ across Ireland would likely involve the return of
militarised customs posts and/or border patrols and could fuel demands
for a united Ireland.

JOHNSON’S BORDER

Earlier this week, a letter from British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
was leaked in which he indicated the British government was still
considering such a border, despite its repeated denials.

Johnson claimed that if there was a hard border, 95% of traffic would
still pass unchecked. But in a subsequent radio interview, Johnson
bizarrely compared such a border with the introduction of the traffic
congestion charge in London, for which vehicle details are recorded by
camera.

Following the letter’s emergence, the British Labour Party called for Mr
Johnson to be dismissed “before he can do any more damage”. “This man’s
ego, and his ‘Brexit at any cost’ strategy cannot be allowed to
jeopardise peace,” said Labour’s spokesperson on the North of Ireland,
Owen Smith.

The British government distanced itself from Johnson’s statement and
denied it was still making plans for a hard border.

In a related development, the Dublin and London governments have asked
the parties in the North to put the Stormont talks on hold while
intensive discussions on Brexit take place.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the Brexit negotiations were
going to enter a very intense phase over the next couple of weeks. He
told parliament that the two governments “have asked the parties to
pause for reflection. We think that is advisable at this stage.”

‘WRECKING AGENDA’

Speaking following the publication of the EU’s draft Brexit withdrawal
treaty today, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald TD has said “the
Tory-DUP wrecking agenda cannot prevail”.

She welcomed the recognition, contained within the EU draft agreement,
of the need for special arrangements for the North, including remaining
within the Customs Union.

Speaking at Leaders’ Questions in the Dublin parliament, Ms McDonald
said the British government and the ‘Brexiteers’ had “zero regard” for
the impact on Ireland.

“No concern for our economy. No concern for the rights of our people. No
concern for the peace process,” she said.

“Now, they want to conclude their debate, and make their exit, by
putting the Good Friday Agreement through the shredder.

“The Tory-DUP axis is satisfied to treat the welfare of the people of
this island as collateral damage so long as they achieve their ‘little
Englander’ vision for Brexit.

“Their arrogance is best highlighted by their rejection of vote of the
people of the North to remain in European Union and most recently
crystallised by Boris Johnson’s juvenile and dangerous commentary.

“The DUP has hitched itself to the Tory wagon. They have put narrow
political interests ahead of the good of the people of the North from
all communities, ahead of our economic well-being and a head of the
political process.

“The position of the Tory-DUP Brexiteers is that they will have their
Brexit at any cost. Except it won’t be them who foots the bill. It will
be the ordinary people of this island both north and south.

“That can’t be allowed to happen. The Tory-DUP wrecking agenda cannot
prevail.

“Taoiseach, it is your job and that of government to ensure that this
doesn’t happen. There is no doubt that the British government will
attempt to undermine the text of this agreement in the time ahead.

“In the context of the DUP’s collapsing of the talks in the North, I
asked you to convene the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
This development clearly adds weight to the need for that to happen.”