Politics

EU to use ‘all measures at its disposal’ if UK abandons parts of Northern Ireland protocol – UK politics live


EU says it will respond ‘with all measures at its disposal’ if UK goes ahead with plan to abandon parts of NI protocol

Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commisison vice-president in charge of Brexit negotiations for the EU, has issued a response to the Truss statement. In it he stresses the EU’s desire to reach a negotiated settlement with the UK on changes to the Northern Ireland protocol, and says “the potential of the flexibilities” proposed by the EU have “yet to be fully explored”.

(My colleague Lisa O’Carroll explains those “flexibilities” in more detail here.)

But Šefčovič says the UK plan to ignore parts of the protocol “raises significant concerns”. If the UK goes ahead with this, Brussels will respond “with all measures at its disposal”, he says.

That could mean trade measures, including tariffs and other measures that involve shelving the post-Brexit free trade deal.

He says:

The announcement by the UK government, however, to table legislation that would disapply constitutive elements of the protocol, raises significant concerns. First, because the protocol is the solution agreed between the EU and the UK to address the challenges posed by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the island of Ireland, and to protect the hard-earned gains of the peace process. Second, because the protocol is an international agreement signed by the EU and the UK. Unilateral actions contradicting an international agreement are not acceptable. Third, because the withdrawal agreement and its protocol are the necessary foundation for the trade and cooperation agreement, which the EU and the UK have agreed upon to organise their overall relationship after the UK’s withdrawal.

Should the UK decide to move ahead with a bill disapplying constitutive elements of the protocol as announced today by the UK government, the EU will need to respond with all measures at its disposal. Our overarching objective is to find joint solutions within the framework of the protocol. That is the way to ensure legal certainty and predictability for people and businesses in Northern Ireland.

These are from Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, on the Liz Truss statement.

The most important part of @trussliz statement today is that the UK is now categoric the NI Protocol has to be amended if it is to be acceptable. Imaginative interpretation of it is not sufficient, she said. By contrast @MarosSefcovic says the Protocol cannot…

— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 17, 2022

be changed – and he gave a clear signal that the EU would retaliate with a trade war if the UK government resorts to domestic legislation to dis-apply parts of the protocol. This looks like a massive car crash in very slow motion.

— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 17, 2022

In a Twitter thread starting here, Anton Spisak, the Brexit expert at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change thinktank, highlights aspects of the statement pointing to a similar conclusion.

A couple of thoughts on Liz Truss’s statement on the N Ireland Protocol:

— Anton Spisak (@AntonSpisak) May 17, 2022

Here are two of his conclusions.

4. Truss says that the govt is “very clear” that the changes are “consistent with our obligations in international law”.

However, unilateral action through domestic legislation is unambiguously at odds with Article 4 of the withdrawal treaty – the UK’s international obligation. pic.twitter.com/j9X1RTYJ3x

— Anton Spisak (@AntonSpisak) May 17, 2022

7. Truss says that there is “a necessity to act” with primary legislation.

However, she doesn’t say why the govt isn’t using Article 16, which is an entirely legal (even if constrained) mechanism within the Protocol to address exceptional circumstances.

— Anton Spisak (@AntonSpisak) May 17, 2022

And the Electoral Psychology Observatory, an academic project, has posted a thread on Twitter arguing it could all end very badly. It starts here.

1/8 Warning – long thread. The UK Government’s risk assessment on unilaterally breaching the NI Protocol is that the EU’s answer will be somewhere between nothing and tariff retaliation. The truth of the matter is that this is a very optimistic assessment. https://t.co/XIteYr0kZs

— Electoral Psychology Observatory (@EPO_lse) May 17, 2022

And here are its conclusions.

7/8 – major misreading. The UK has always favoured “tough” rhetoric hoping it would signal determination but wants to negotiate; conversely, the EU has always favoured a warm tone but stuck to its red lines without giving an inch. This hasn’t changed.

— Electoral Psychology Observatory (@EPO_lse) May 17, 2022

8/8 The UK believes it knows what is good for the EU and can thus guess pragmatic reactions, but they consistently guess them wrong. Anyone who thinks the EU will sacrifice principles to pragmatism may be in for a nasty shock, and a nasty shock is not out of the question here.

— Electoral Psychology Observatory (@EPO_lse) May 17, 2022

In the Commons Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary of state for climate change and net zero, and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, have been speaking at the opening of today’s Queen’s speech debate.

As the Scotsman’s Alexander Brown points out, Miliband ridiculed Sunak’s response to the cost of living crisis.

Ed Miliband compares Rishi Sunak to crypto saying they both “came out of nowhere, the value surged, looked like the future… but it’s all turned out to be one giant ponzi scheme” pic.twitter.com/4Laa2U7740

— Alexander Brown (@AlexofBrown) May 17, 2022

And Sunak said he would be “pragmatic” when deciding whether or not to implement a windfall tax, as the FT’s George Parker points out.

Now @RishiSunak says he will be “pragmatic” on a windfall tax. Wants oil and gas companies to increase investment: “If that doesn’t happen soon – and at a significant scale – then no option is off the table.”

— George Parker (@GeorgeWParker) May 17, 2022

I will post extracts from both speeches soon.

Lisa O'Carroll

Lisa O’Carroll

The UK’s announcement about the plan to change the Northern Ireland protocol is straining relations once again with Ireland. The Irish foreign secretary, Simon Coveney, said:

I deeply regret the decision of the British government to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that will unilaterally dis-apply elements of the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Coveney said such action was “damaging to trust and will serve only to make it more challenging to find solutions to the genuine concerns that people in Northern Ireland have about how the protocol is being implemented”.

Here is the Coveney statement in full.

🔥🔥 Statement by Minister Coveney on Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s statement of intention to table legislation to dis-apply parts of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland 🔥🔥 #Brexit 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/r4xh3RgNXv

— Antonello Guerrera (@antoguerrera) May 17, 2022

This is from Matthew O’Toole, an SDLP member of the Northern Ireland assembly, on the line used by Boris Johnson yesterday, and Liz Truss today, about all parties in the Northern Ireland assembly wanting changes to the protocol.

Cynical line now being pushed by Johnson & Truss: ‘all NI parties say Protocol not working’.

WRONG.

Our party believes the Protocol is delivering vital protections and benefits to the NI economy.

Yes, we want smoothest implementation possible.

But we’d much rather no Brexit.

— Matthew O’Toole (@MatthewOToole2) May 17, 2022

It is true that parties like the SDLP, the Alliance party and Sinn Féin think aspects of the protocol regime could be improved, But the EU itself has also accepted that implementation of the protocol should be reformed, and it has proposed changes. There is a significant difference between the Northern Ireland parties wanting adjustments in line with that the EU would accept, and the DUP, which wants changes that are unacceptable to the EU and that would be tantamount to the abolition of the protocol.

The UK government’s position is much closer to the DUP’s than to Sinn Féin’s, the Alliance’s or the SDLP’s.

Back in the Commons, Claire Hanna from the SDLP says it is telling that Truss quoted opinion polling on the Northern Ireland protocol in Northern Ireland. (See 1.17pm.) Truss should instead consider the recent election results, Hanna suggests, which showed a substantial majority of people backing parties that support the protocol.

Johnson says NI protocol plan about getting rid of ‘some relatively minor barriers to trade’

Boris Johnson has said the UK’s plans involve getting rid of “relatively minor barriers to trade”. Speaking on his visit to Paddington station, he said:

We need to address the problems with the [Northern Ireland] protocol. What that actually involves is getting rid of some relatively minor barriers to trade.

I think there are good, common sense, pragmatic solutions. We need to work with our EU friends to achieve that.

This is from David McAllister, the German MEP who chairs the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

Unilateral action would only make our work on possible landing zones more difficult. The EU takes a unified stance: we want sustainable solutions in the framework of the Protocol. Renegotiations won’t serve the purpose. The Protocol is part of the solution, it is not the problem.

— davidmcallister (@davidmcallister) May 17, 2022

Sir Robert Buckland, the former Tory justice secretary, told Truss earlier that wording contained in article 1 of the Northern Ireland protocol meant “surely” that the Good Friday agreement “takes primacy over the protocol”. He said:

Article 1 of the protocol makes it very clear that that agreement is to be without prejudice to the Good Friday/Belfast agreement regarding the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. That means, surely, that the Good Friday agreement takes primacy over the protocol.

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, asks Truss why she won’t agree a veterinary agreement with the EU.

Truss says her plan would reduce bureaucracy generally.

EU diplomats say no decision has been taken on the nature of retaliatory action, which would only follow a move by the UK government to override the protocol, my colleague Jennifer Rankin reports.

EU says it will respond ‘with all measures at its disposal’ if UK goes ahead with plan to abandon parts of NI protocol

Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commisison vice-president in charge of Brexit negotiations for the EU, has issued a response to the Truss statement. In it he stresses the EU’s desire to reach a negotiated settlement with the UK on changes to the Northern Ireland protocol, and says “the potential of the flexibilities” proposed by the EU have “yet to be fully explored”.

(My colleague Lisa O’Carroll explains those “flexibilities” in more detail here.)

But Šefčovič says the UK plan to ignore parts of the protocol “raises significant concerns”. If the UK goes ahead with this, Brussels will respond “with all measures at its disposal”, he says.

That could mean trade measures, including tariffs and other measures that involve shelving the post-Brexit free trade deal.

He says:

The announcement by the UK government, however, to table legislation that would disapply constitutive elements of the protocol, raises significant concerns. First, because the protocol is the solution agreed between the EU and the UK to address the challenges posed by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the island of Ireland, and to protect the hard-earned gains of the peace process. Second, because the protocol is an international agreement signed by the EU and the UK. Unilateral actions contradicting an international agreement are not acceptable. Third, because the withdrawal agreement and its protocol are the necessary foundation for the trade and cooperation agreement, which the EU and the UK have agreed upon to organise their overall relationship after the UK’s withdrawal.

Should the UK decide to move ahead with a bill disapplying constitutive elements of the protocol as announced today by the UK government, the EU will need to respond with all measures at its disposal. Our overarching objective is to find joint solutions within the framework of the protocol. That is the way to ensure legal certainty and predictability for people and businesses in Northern Ireland.

Ian Paisley (DUP) asks Truss about the comments from the Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman this morning. (See 10.40am.) He accuses the EU of being engaged “in a trade war to crush business in Northern Ireland”. And he says power-sharing will not return to Northern Ireland until the protocol is resolved.

UPDATE: Paisley said:

[Norman’s] business in the Republic of Ireland to export goods has to fill in 700 pages. It has to do that within an eight-hour period, it has to do some of that wording in Latin to satisfy the European community, and it also has to do it in a certain type font or else it will not be allowed. It costs him an additional £30m. He has said this morning on the radio that the EU has told him they would like the same procedures for his businesses in Northern Ireland.

This is power grab. People talk about trade war. This is a trade war to crush business in Northern Ireland. Will the foreign secretary ensure that whenever she is speaking to the cabinet, that they know clearly that if they keep the protocol, power sharing isn’t coming back?

Steve Baker (Con) says this is the “right solution”. He says the Northern Ireland protocol itself made allowance for the fact it might need to be changed in the future.

Truss says MPs across the house accept there are issues with the protocol. Her preference is for a negotiated solution with the EU, she says.

Paul Blomfield (Lab) suggests that Truss is fuelling Brexit division because that suits her own political ambitions.

Truss says it is the government’s duty to restore peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

Layla Moran (Lib Dem) says that, despite what Truss says, unilaterally changing a treaty is breaking it, and to say otherwise is “doublespeak”. She asks how much extra people might have to pay for goods if the EU retaliates by triggering a trade war.

Truss says the government is confident this move is legal. She says people in Northern Ireland are already facing higher costs.

Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con) says the Labour party has accepted that parts of the protocol need to change. It is a shame they will the ends but not the means to achieve this, he says.

Fleur Anderson (Lab) asks Truss what her assessment is of the costs of this course of action.

Anderson seems to be referring to the cost of a possible trade war with the EU, but Truss does not address this. She just says the arrangements proposed by the UK would cut costs for traders.

Truss says she is “very open” to doing a deal with the EU on this. She says she is meeting Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, later this week to discuss the protocol.

Colum Eastwood, the SDLP leader, says Truss is going against the wishes of the majority of people in Northern Ireland who back the protocol. He asks how anyone in Northern Ireland can ever trust the government again given that it is ignoring a deal it signed.

Truss says a poll last year showed 78% of people in Northern Ireland want the protocol changed.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.