October 13, 2021
3 mins read

UK shares new post-Brexit trade plan for North Ireland with EU

The legal proposal, dispatched on the eve of the European Union setting out its own plans, comes amid vehement opposition to the so-called Northern Ireland protocol from some in the British province, reports Asian Lite News

Britain on Tuesday said it sent the EU a new legal text to overhaul fractious post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, and renewed threats to abandon the current deal.

The legal proposal, dispatched on the eve of the European Union setting out its own plans, comes amid vehement opposition to the so-called Northern Ireland protocol from some in the British province.

It follows months of demands by London for the pact to be revised to change the rules around internal UK trade and the arbitration mechanisms governing it.

In a speech in Lisbon, Brexit minister David Frost argued the new text worked “with the grain” of the existing deal, but would “deliver significant change” and put it on a “durable footing”.

“Without new arrangements in this area, no protocol will ever have the support across Northern Ireland it needs to survive,” he said, reiterating warnings London could trigger a clause scrapping the agreement. “We would not go down this road gratuitously or with any particular pleasure. It is our fundamental responsibility to safeguard peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland, and that is why we cannot rest until the situation has been addressed,” he said.

Britain voted to leave the EU in a landmark referendum in 2016. When it eventually departed from its rules and regulations at the start of 2021, the Northern Ireland protocol came into effect.

It has kept the British-ruled province inside elements of the EU customs union and single market in order to prevent a hard border with EU member Ireland.

The border was a former flashpoint in the sectarian conflict over British rule between pro-UK unionists and pro-Ireland nationalists, which wound down in 1998.

However, the protocol has required new checkpoints at ports in the region to stop the risk of goods from England, Scotland and Wales getting into the EU by the back door.

Pro-UK unionists in Northern Ireland say it has created a border in the Irish Sea that undermines the province’s place in the wider UK, and strengthens pro-Irish republicans’ case for a united Ireland.

Frost denied Britain had agreed the protocol in December 2019 in bad faith without intending to implement it, insisting that it took “a risk” and blamed Brussels for its implementation.

His proposed changes include allowing goods to circulate virtually freely between Northern Ireland and the rest of mainland Britain and removing the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as the scheme’s ultimate arbiter.

“For the EU now to say that the protocol — drawn up in extreme haste in a time of great uncertainty — can never be improved upon, when it is so self-evidently causing such significant problems, would be a historic misjudgement,” he warned.

His remarks came as the European Commission was poised to unveil its own plans Wednesday to accommodate British misgivings, with the mood in Brussels increasingly frustrated.

“The window for dialogue is closing and it’s not good that even before the EU makes its proposal it is refused.

“This proposal will be as far as the EU can take it.”

ALSO READ-PM vows ‘long overdue’ revamp of UK’s post-Brexit economy

READ MORE-Brexit Britain Seeks Free Trade Agreement With India

Previous Story

India hits out at double standards in religious phobias

Next Story

Prevent Afghanistan from becoming source of terrorism, says PM

Latest from -Top News

Multi-alignment, upgraded

With US ties strained and China tense, New Delhi taps Europe’s harder edge for co-development, clean tech and strategic autonomy, writes Manoj Menon India is recalibrating its great-power hedging as frictions with

India-EU Trade Deal Breakthrough Soon?

Negotiators report increased momentum in discussions, which have been given a boost from US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive…reports Asian Lite News India and the European Union aim to finalise a trade

Europe Seeks Peace in Gaza

European countries condemn Israeli interception of Gaza-bound flotilla, demand safety of citizens…reports Asian Lite News Israel’s interception of an international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has sparked condemnation across Europe, with

GAZA: Egypt to Host Peace Talks

Egypt hopes the discussions will help “end the war and the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people, which has continued for two consecutive years…reports Asian Lite News Egypt will host Israeli and

‘My Injuries Made Me’

During his four-year battle with injury, the incumbent fast bowling spearhead made occasional appearances but couldn’t bear the workload and demands of red-ball cricket….reports Asian Lite News England tearaway Jofra Archer believes
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Over 200,000 workers switch to four-day week

Nearly 11% of the workforce now report doing four days

Foreign workers will need salary of over £30k to enter UK

The surge has been fuelled with the UK granting visas