In addition, Frost assured that the negotiations have not yet reached a point of no return. “I am not going to abandon this process until it is clear that it is no longer possible to do anything else,” he said, warning that if this were the case, “the safeguard measures provided for in Article 16 would be our only option.”
London demands a deep renegotiation of the Northern Irish protocol agreed in the framework of Brexit, as the United Kingdom’s exit from the bloc is known and which keeps this British province ‘de facto’ in the European single market. In particular, it urges that the Court of Justice of the European Union not settle commercial disputes and proposes to establish “an arbitration mechanism”, which implies an unacceptable modification for Europeans.
Brussels, for its part, is opposed, proposing only some adjustments, while the discussions developed in recent weeks remain stagnant. Faced with this situation, London threatened to resort to article 16 of the protocol, which allows it to unilaterally suspend certain provisions. The response of the Europeans was to mention the possibility of suspension of the free trade agreement in force since the beginning of 2021, which made it possible to avoid a “no agreement”, potentially very painful economically.
Faced with the increased risk of a trade conflict, Ireland, on the front line, announced yesterday that it will work on emergency measures, “dusting off” the plan prepared last year in the event of “no agreement”. In calls made today with representatives of various parties in Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Michael Martin underlined “the EU’s commitment to solving the real problems of the application of the protocol.” He also stressed the need to give the Brussels-London talks “every chance of success,” Martin’s office said in a statement.
The protocol in force since the beginning of this year keeps the British province in the customs union and in the European single market, to avoid establishing a physical border on the island of Ireland, which would run the risk of weakening the 1998 peace agreement. The new measures disrupted supplies from Northern Ireland and provoked the ire of unionists promoting the UK’s permanence in the deal, reviving community tensions.
Source From: Ambito
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