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Taoiseach Micheál Martin plans to raise the government’s “very strong concerns” about the UK’s intention to breach the Brexit deal in a call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today.
Revealing the latest government action on Brexit, Martin said he was “extremely concerned” about Britain’s plan to “violate international law” with a new bill amending the Brexit treaty.
The Taoiseach said it would record its concern in a phone call with Johnson later this afternoon “about Northern Ireland being drawn back into this and the possibility of unnecessary divisions with Northern Ireland politics.”
“The degree to which it draws Northern Ireland to center stage is very, very regrettable. It has the potential to create divisions in that context, ”Martin told reporters at a news conference in government buildings in Dublin.
The Taoiseach said the timing and one-sided nature of Northern Ireland’s Secretary of State Brandon Lewis’s admission on Tuesday that the new British home market legislation would violate the Brexit treaty “is not an acceptable way to carry conduct negotiations. ”
Mr Martin said that admission to the House of Commons had “puzzled a lot of people” across Europe and indeed in the UK “and was not leading to meaningful negotiations.
He said he spoke with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday night about the issue, and described the latest events in London as “very worrying”.
“Meaningful negotiations can only proceed on the basis of mutual trust,” he said.
“Unilateral actions that seek to change the operation of measures already agreed upon, included in an international treaty and incorporated into national legislation, do not generate confidence.”
The Taoiseach said Lewis’s admission was “a new starting point” for the British government and raised questions about ongoing negotiations between the EU and the UK to reach a free trade agreement and whether the UK will adhere to a agreement in six or 12 months of time.
The North secretary “did not show anything subtle,” Martin said of Lewis’ comments.
‘Very harmful’
“I have not seen a member of any government walk into parliament and say that we are going to violate international law,” he said.
Martin said he had no illusions that a no-deal Brexit would be “very damaging,” but he still believed that the optimal outcome was a “sound and proper free trade agreement.”
The government was “well aware of the risks” of a no-deal Brexit, he said, when he and other government party leaders announced financial support and customs training for companies trading with the UK to manage their exit from the single market. EU from January. 1 of 2021.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney warned against the potential to undermine the progress made in Northern Ireland with the reestablishment of the power-sharing government.
“I would warn anyone who is thinking of playing politics with Northern Ireland about Brexit again. Northern Ireland is too fragile and too important to be used as a pawn in the broader Brexit negotiations, ”he said.
“Now is not the time to rekindle the disagreements that have been resolved by international agreement and international law. Now is the time to make a trade deal that is good for the UK and good for the EU and Ireland. “
Coveney said the government would normally get “a heads up” from their British counterparts if they announced a new national plan that “may create problems.”
“None of that happened this week,” he said.
He described the events in London as “an extraordinary change in the approach of the UK government”.
“It’s an extraordinary way of trying to close what is a very difficult and sensitive negotiation where trust is the most important component in terms of getting the right result.”
Earlier, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that he did not believe that there could be a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU in circumstances where the UK government does not respect the withdrawal agreement.
In response to comments made by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, Varadkar on Tuesday said it was an “extraordinary statement to hear from a cabinet minister in a respected liberal democracy.”
Lewis told the House of Commons that the internal markets bill to be published on Wednesday will see Britain breach its commitment to the EU.
“This violates international law in a very specific and limited way. We are taking the power not to apply the concept of direct effect of EU law required by Article 4 in certain very strictly defined circumstances, ”he said.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Varadkar said: “A country either is governed by the rule of law or not, or it respects international treaties and obligations or not; Britain is an honest and honorable country full of honest people, it is the country of Magna Carta, the country that helped defend parliamentary democracy, it is not a rogue state.
‘Extraordinary comments’
He told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that “these were extraordinary comments. It certainly did sound the alarms in Dublin, I think they backfired. We have seen the response from the Northern Ireland parties, which represent the majority of the people in Northern Ireland, which has been very negative, we have seen the response from the European Union, we have seen the response from the US Congress. And from Irish America. .
“I think governments around the world are scratching their heads wondering whether they should enter into treaties or contracts with the British government if that is their attitude.”
Varadkar said that the withdrawal agreement had been ratified by the House of Commons and the House of Lords and also by the European Parliament.
“I think that going back to a year ago, without a doubt the strategy and behavior of the British government was risky, it was one of threat of collapse, ‘if we don’t reach an agreement, we could become kamikaze with you’, what kind of thing.
“I hope this is just another installment of this, that the more benign assessment that this is risky, this is saber rattling if we don’t get a TLC, this is what we will do, that’s my benign interpretation and maybe this is it is only part of the negotiation process to reach a free trade agreement with the EU, but I don’t think we can assume that is that ”, said Tánaiste.
Mr Varadkar, who is also Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, added that he believes the UK wants a deal, but will want a deal on the best possible terms.
“It would seem that the sticking points are around fishing, which is going to be very difficult, and also state aid, what business support and the different support that the government can give to companies in their own country without biasing the playing field. They don’t seem insurmountable to me, and there is time, ”said Varadkar.
Free trade agreement
However, Varadkar added that he does not believe there can be a free trade agreement if the UK government does not comply with the withdrawal agreement.
“They have already legislated for the withdrawal agreement, this is a change to that. That said, this problem would not arise if we had a free trade agreement, if there was an agreement between the EU and the UK, that we would have trade free of quotas and tariffs, this problem would disappear. That could be what they’re playing at. I don’t think it’s a good strategy on their part. “
On Wednesday, Varadkar will unveil the government’s Brexit Ready Action Plan which, he said, will set out “how we are going to deal with the next stage of Brexit – whether there is an FTA or not, the UK will leave, we don’t know. if there will be quotas or tariffs, but there will be customs procedures, there will be a new bureaucracy, there will be controls, it is about preparing companies for the reality of that.
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