The decision of the United Kingdom to promote legislation that breaks the protocol “leaves us with no other option than to act,” said the vice president of the European Commission (EU executive body), Maros Sefcovic, for whom “there is no legal or political justification for unilaterally changing an international agreement“.
The British government of Boris Johnson He presented to Parliament on Monday a bill that unilaterally modifies the post-Brexit customs provisions applied to Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom considers that the text does not violate international law and launches a legislative approval process of several weeks that seeks to significantly modify the so-called “Northern Ireland protocol”, negotiated with Brussels in the framework of Brexit.
On the same Monday, Sefcovic himself had anticipated that the European Union would initiate legal action against the British government for the initiative, and expressed his “great concern” with the intention of modifying “key elements” of the negotiated protocol.
This Wednesday, Sefcovic said that the The EU “has been avoiding these legal actions because we wanted to build a constructive atmosphere to find solutions.”
For this reason, he announced “two new infringement procedures” against the United Kingdom.
The first is “by failure to carry out the necessary checks at border checkpoints in Northern Ireland” nor to ensure adequate infrastructure and personnel.
The second is “by not provide the European Union with commercial statistical data essential to enable it to protect its single market”.
The protocol, the senior official said, “was the solution, agreed with the UK government to protect the Good Friday deal, avoid a border on the island of Ireland, and protect the integrity of the EU’s single market.”
UK ‘disappointed’
The British government defended the bill that gives it the power to modify some elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiated in the framework of Brexit and was “disappointed” with the decision of the European Union.
“The UK still prefers a negotiated solution, but the proposals put forward by the EU today are the same ones we have been debating for months. and they would not solve the problems; in many cases they take us backwards from current agreements,” he said.
“The protocol is weakening the Good Friday Agreement, disrupting trade and causing the people of Northern Ireland to be treated differently from the rest of the UK”stressed the spokesman.
The Protocol for Northern Ireland seeks to prevent the return of a hard border that recalls the decades of conflict between that region, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, a country that is part of the European Union.
To this end, it was established that the northern territory continues to belong to the European common market and that customs controls be established between goods going to and from the United Kingdom, the island where England, Scotland and Wales are located.
The UK maintains that the EU legal action announced today does not relate to UK legislation, but includes the reintroduction of three historical breaches and two new breaches on technical issues related to the current implementation of the protocol.
It also argues that complying with EU requirements means companies and individuals would be worse off, facing bureaucratic burdens and additional costs.
Source: Ambito
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