Insight
Four reasons why the UK’s Northern Ireland Protocol bill is a mistake by Anton Spisak, 27 June 2022 The UK promises to “fix” the Northern Ireland protocol with unilateral legislation. This will be a major step backwards in trying to resolve genuine practical problems under the protocol. Northern Ireland is, once again, at the centre of the political debate about Brexit. The future of the Northern Ireland protocol, part of the UK-EU withdrawal treaty – once described by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as an “excellent deal” – appears uncertain. The same prime minister now views the protocol as “unsustainable”, and his government is set to override the parts that it does not like through domestic legislation. The stated aim of the government’s plan is to resolve the political and practical difficulties that that the protocol is causing in Northern Ireland. Yet, despite the promise that the bill will “fix” the protocol, the UK’s latest gambit is set to be a major step backwards. Disagreements over the protocol are nothing new. Almost from the day that the UK and the EU negotiated the withdrawal treaty, the two sides have had different interpretations about how to implement the arrangements that govern trade between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the EU. What was initially a dispute over how the protocol should be implemented has, over time, morphed into a more fundamental disagreement over whether the protocol should be rewritten altogether. Last summer, the British government set out an entirely new way of operating the protocol and demanded a redrafting of the agreement. The EU responded with its own proposals – the October package – which suggested ways of easing the practical burden for businesses but without reopening the treaty. Relations between Brussels and London briefly improved after Liz Truss, UK foreign secretary, took over the negotiations with the EU from Lord Frost, the Brexit minister who stepped down last December. But the talks quickly stalled, with British officials blaming the EU member-states for refusing to give the European Commission a mandate to reopen the treaty. The Northern Ireland Assembly election in May made sorting out the protocol more urgent. It led to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest unionist party in the region, blocking the formation of the devolved parliament and a government in Belfast by refusing to enter the ‘power-sharing’ arrangements that are central to governing Northern Ireland. The government in London argues that the unionist concerns over the protocol are creating political instability and undermining the Good CER INSIGHT: Four reasons why the UK’s Northern Ireland Protocol bill is a mistake 27 June 2022
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