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The British government is knowingly accepting the violation of international agreements with the planned Brexit legislation. Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said in Parliament on Tuesday that the government’s contemplation of changing the provisions on Northern Ireland in the Withdrawal Treaty with the EU “violates international law to a very specific degree and limited”. Therefore, the law should be introduced in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The aim is to suspend the EU principle of “direct applicability” of European law “under certain very strictly defined circumstances,” Lewis said. The legislation should ensure that the government can fulfill its “obligations to the people of Northern Ireland”. Lewis did not elaborate on the plans. He also claimed that the government was committed to Northern Ireland’s agreement with the EU.
With Brexit, the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland has de facto become a land border between the EU and Great Britain. However, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which overcame the bloody and protracted conflict in Northern Ireland, establishes an open border.
Around the same time as the statements by the British Secretary of State, the negotiations on future relations entered a new round in London. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier stressed on Monday that London had to deliver on promises made in the exit agreement. “Everything that has been signed must be respected,” Barnier said.
Probably in protest against the new regulation: legal director resigns
The resignation of UK government justice chief Jonathan Jones was announced on Tuesday. According to a Financial Times report, the move is related to planned changes to the Brexit deal that Jones disagreed with. A spokesman for the authorities confirmed the resignation, but did not provide information on the reasons.
Britain left the EU at the end of January. In a transitional phase until the end of the year, the country continues to belong to the EU internal market and to the customs union, so almost nothing has changed in everyday life. If no contract on future relationships is successful, there could be a sharp economic break with tariffs and other trade barriers in early 2021.
