Europe
Northern Ireland: EU presents possible solutions to Brexit issues
Graffiti in Belfast promotes the reunification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. In the dispute over post-Brexit rules, Northern Ireland has become an eternal bone of contention between Brussels and London. Photo: Larissa Schwedes / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A good five years after the Brexit vote, there are still bitter struggles over exceptions. The situation surrounding the delicate Northern Ireland issue remains tense.
In the dispute with London over the regulations for the British province of Northern Ireland after Brexit, the EU Commission wants to present proposed solutions today.
It is expected that the EU’s Brexit representative, Maros Sefcovic, will present a detailed catalog of measures to minimize the difficulties in intra-British trade caused by the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol.
British Brexit Minister David Frost demanded on Tuesday that the competences of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) be severely limited with regard to the protocol. It is almost impossible for Brussels to agree to this. The protocol negotiated by Frost himself says that Northern Ireland will follow the rules of the EU customs union and the internal market even after Brexit, which means that it is subject to certain EU regulations.
This regulation is intended to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the EU member Republic of Ireland and a new outbreak of the violent conflict over the reunification of the island. What bothers the UK side is that border controls are now necessary between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
“The EU package has not even been published yet, but the British government is already rejecting it with publicity,” criticized MEP Anna Cavazzini (Greens). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Frost have no interest in improving the situation in Northern Ireland, said the Chair of the Internal Market Committee. She spoke of “populist opinion making”.
Political scientist Georgina Wright from the Institut Montaigne in Paris pointed out that the Northern Ireland Protocol was the only part of the exit agreement that Johnson had negotiated. It was clear that the role of the ECJ was not negotiable, she told the German press agency.
According to reports, the Commission’s proposals expected on Wednesday are likely to include exemptions for individual products such as certain foods and medicines. A fundamental renegotiation of the protocol should still not be an option. Whether that will be enough to appease London is extremely questionable.
In Lisbon on Tuesday, Frost warned the EU not to commit a “historic mistake”. He had called the protocol “the source of the greatest distrust between us” and threatened to override it through an emergency mechanism. “The protocol isn’t working,” said Frost. In addition, the international community is not behaving constructively, but rather gives the impression that it does not wish Great Britain any success.