“To the court!”: Brussels and London, again at “war” for Brexit

To the courts! Talks have arrived with the European Union to resolve the Brexit crisis in Northern Ireland a dead end, according to British Chancellor Liz Truss. With this belief, she justified the government’s plans to cancel parts of that agreement signed three years ago to complete the Brexit process.

The European Union will engage this Wednesday legal action against Great Britain“for violating the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement” after Boris Johnson introduced legislation to unilaterally reduce Brussels’ influence in Northern Ireland.

Beyond the words of Chancellor Truss, this unilateral decision destroys Brexit and damages Britain’s reputation for complying with international treaties. The EU believes that agreements were violated. Many companies benefit from this dual access protocol to the UK and European market. This is reflected in Northern Ireland which is economically more productive after London.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson accuses the EU of not adhering to government offers and this forces him to this unilateral act. But the EU has already shown flexibility on drugs and more proposals last year. It is the British government that has refused to participate in formal negotiations since last February.

An internal and political problem

The tragedy for Johnson is not the Europeans but the Protestant democratic unionists, who refuse to participate in the government of the Northern Ireland executive, up to the protocol that regulates the ties with the EU and Great Britain be removed. Northern Ireland is treated with him a different state to the rest of Great Britain.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Protestants (DUP), again raised the possibility that his party was sharing power before the bill became law.

This is considered critical by ministers as proof that the bill protects the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement. “The DUP will judge what constitutes decisive action as we see progress on this bill,” he said.

But this one-sided alien decision a population that voted overwhelmingly against Brexit in that region. The measure will do destabilize the Good Friday peace agreementwho maintains peace in the troubled province after the civil war between Catholics and Protestants and their guerrillas.

The arguments of the Boris government

Chancellor Truss said the government had no choice but to act after the EU refused to change the text of the protocol during eighteen months of negotiations. Truss said “the EU was not justified in taking legal action”, arguing that the UK’s plans would not harm the bloc.

“Our solution does not worsen the situation in the EU. We continue to protect the single market. We are providing data to the EU. We have strong enforcement to make sure companies don’t break the rules, ”the chancellor said, speaking this morning.

“So there is absolutely no reason why the EU should react negatively to what we are doing,” he said.

Truss, a pro-Brexit pro-European with his appointment, clarified: “What we need is for the EU to agree to change the text of the protocol. If not, the negotiations will simply not be successful. “

“They have reached a dead end. Because we cannot change those fundamental issues around customs and VAT, which are making us lose the consent of the unionist (Protestant) community in Northern Ireland, “she clarified.

Violation of the international agreement

The EU accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of abandoning “constructive cooperation”. But the premier said the bill it was vital to the peace process.

The Democratic Unionist Party, which refused to share power with Sinn Fein’s Catholic Republicans again until the protocol was revised, called it “an important step”.

The reasons of Boris Johnson they are internal. If he doesn’t alter Northern Ireland’s protocol, he won’t reopen the Belfast Legislative Assembly because the protesters are against it.

The changes you will make

The bill presented to the UK parliament on Monday would authorize ministers to introduce changes in four areas of the protocol. They include the border controls and food safety, the application of EU legislation, changes in VAT and the role of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEU). If issued, it would remove controls on most goods passing through Great Britain and Northern Ireland and would put an end to the so-called “sausage ban”, which technically stop exporting of some goods to the province.

It would also allow Northern Irish companies to continue to sell and produce goods, even if they do not comply with current or future EU regulations. Also would limit considerably the role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, which unlike Great Britain remains part of the European single market.

The reaction of the EU

After the publication of the bill, Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the EU Commission and responsible for the negotiation, said that “the blockade risked restarting the legal proceedings against Great Britain for violating the terms of the withdrawal agreement signed by Johnson in 2019 “.

It will be confirmed at a meeting of EU ambassadors. Britain could face potentially unlimited fines for not implementing the protocol, or the total or partial suspension of the contract wider trade, if the government refuses to pay.

It is also likely that Brussels will immediately suspend cooperation with Great Britain all issues of bilateral interest: from Fishing until the financial services. And that it also stops the British participation in the 95,000 million euro Horizon scientific cooperation program.

Privately, Brussels has said that if parliament approves the bill, The EU will impose specific tariffs on UK exportswhich will start at trade war.

“It is with great concern that we take note of the UK government’s decision to introduce the bill,” said Sefcovic. “The Commission will also consider launching new infringement procedures, which protect the EU single market from the risks that the violation of the protocol creates for EU companies and for the health and safety of EU citizens.”

Sefcovic added that if Johnson expected the threat of legislation would put pressure on the EU to renegotiate the protocol, he was wrong. “Renegotiating the protocol is not realistic. Any renegotiation only brings more uncertainty“, She said.

Johnson declared a trade war between Britain and the EU it would be a “rude, overreaction”. He insisted that the proposed changes were proportionate. “All we are trying to do is to simplify things by trying to remove the barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland,” she said.

“A negotiated agreement”

British government sources said Johnson’s preference was for a negotiated deal with Brussels. He expressed his willingness to continue the talks while the legislation was in parliament.

Brexit conservatives will meet in a few days to decide whether to support the bill, which doesn’t go as far as some would like. A senior source from the European Research Group said it will likely support the bill. “He has most of what we want in him,” the source said.

The bill is likely to meet strong opposition among the Lords and among some parliamentarians from the party’s left, who think it may violate international law.

Downing Street disputes claims the bill is illegal, citing the “doctrine of necessity”arguing that urgent measures must be taken to protect an essential national interest.

A former minister said on Monday he was ready to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt “, arguing that the bill seemed strictly focused on addressing the practical problems with the functioning of the protocol on the ground. “I think it could have been a lot worse,” he told her. “It appears to be limited to protecting trade and not unnecessarily provocative.”

Michael Martin, the Irish prime minister, accused Britain of violating an international treaty. He said of the bill: “It represents a new low point because the natural expectation of democratic countries like us, the UK and all of Europe is that we respect the international agreements we make.”

Paris, correspondent

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