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The government will introduce a new law that could change post-Brexit customs plans with the EU, but No. 10 denied it would “break” the existing treaty.
The two parties agreed in 2019 on the terms of the UK’s exit, including future trade in Northern Ireland.
Reports suggested that a new law could “nullify” the legal force of that agreement: the withdrawal agreement.
But Downing Street said it would only make “minor clarifications in extremely specific areas.”
Issue 10 confirmed that the UK’s new internal market law will be published on Wednesday.
The EU said that the “full implementation” of the withdrawal agreement was a “prerequisite for negotiations on the future partnership” between the bloc and the UK.
The news comes at the beginning of another week of negotiations on that future trade deal.
The so-called transition period, which has been in place since the UK left the EU in January, will end on December 31 and the two sides are trying to secure a replacement deal.
But Boris Johnson said that if no agreement was reached at the October 15 European Council meeting, both sides should “move on”, meaning the UK would continue to trade with the bloc on international trade terms.
Northern Ireland Labor Secretary Louise Haigh said that if the government’s latest moves were bargaining tactics, they were not “very effective”.
She told BBC News: “It undermines all the progress that has been made in recent months and completely jeopardizes a future business relationship.”
What had the UK and the EU agreed?
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Downing street
Boris Johnson signed the withdrawal agreement in January
The two sides signed a withdrawal agreement last year before the UK left the bloc on January 31.
The document covered a number of areas, from how much the UK would have to pay for its “divorce bill” to intentions for a future relationship.
But one of the biggest sticking points throughout the negotiations has been how to handle the Northern Ireland issue.
Both the UK and the EU pledged to protect the peace process in the region and prevent any reintroduction of border controls on the island of Ireland.
But they also accepted that the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland would become the UK’s border with the EU, so customs rules had to be respected and enforced.
The UK and the EU agreed to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
This would cause Northern Ireland to continue to follow some EU customs rules after the transition period, meaning that customs declarations would be needed for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, as well as some new controls of the goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
It was unpopular with some sections of the Tory banks and the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party, which had been supporting the government up to that point.
But the agreement was approved by Parliament and the Northern Ireland Protocol became part of the international treaty.
What is the UK government now proposing?
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Both the UK and the EU have pledged not to carry out new border controls on the island of Ireland.
Number 10 has said that he is committed to the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol.
And he said he was continuing his work with the EU in a joint committee to solve the problems of how it would work in practice.
However, he said he wanted to have something in place to protect trade in the four nations of the United Kingdom if an agreement was not reached before the end of the year.
The text of the bill has not yet been published, so we cannot say with certainty what will be included in its drafting.
But Downing Street said one thing it would do is allow ministers to unilaterally decide which particular goods were “at risk” of entering the EU by passing between Britain and Northern Ireland and therefore subject to tariffs from the EU.
The act would also give ministers the powers to remove export declarations for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Britain and would make clear that EU state aid requirements, where governments provide financial support to businesses local, would only apply in Northern Ireland.
But the government insists the bill introduces only “limited and reasonable steps” to “remove the ambiguity,” not “nullifying” the withdrawal agreement, as government sources had suggested on Sunday.
What has been the reaction?
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the Northern Ireland Protocol is “essential”
Brussels has expressed concern about the messages arriving from Downing Street.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she was confident that the UK government will “implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law and a prerequisite for any future partnerships.”
And he added that the Northern Ireland Protocol was “fundamental to protecting peace and stability on the island and the integrity of the single market.”
Northern Ireland Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill tweeted any threat to backtrack on the protocol would be a “treacherous betrayal inflicting irreversible damage to the entire Irish economy and to the Good Friday Agreement.”
He co-signed a joint letter from the anti-Brexit parties in Northern Ireland to the prime minister and the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, saying it would be “completely unacceptable”. [to] abandon these safeguards and mitigations. ”
Labor accused the government of “misleading the public” by having a so-called “oven-ready deal” for Brexit.
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Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “Parliament supported the Withdrawal Agreement earlier this year. Made promises and signed a treaty on these agreements for Northern Ireland, and now seems to be regressing. “
And Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move would “significantly increase” the likelihood of leaving the transition period without a trade deal, and the resulting “damage to the economy will be fully inflicted by conservatives. What charlatans.”
But government sources told the BBC that the legislation “was not intended to derail the talks”, and a spokeswoman said the UK would continue to approach the talks with the EU in good faith.
“As a responsible government, we are considering alternative options should this not be achieved, to ensure that Northern Ireland communities are protected,” he added.
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