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US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, warned against creating a “hard border by accident” on the island of Ireland.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposes new legislation that would break Northern Ireland’s protocol to the Brexit divorce treaty that seeks to avoid a physical customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
“The Trump administration, the State Department and the United States Congress would be aligned in the desire to see the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement) preserved so that the lack of a border is maintained,” Mulvaney said in an interview. with the Financial Times published. on Friday.
His comment comes two days after US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden warned Britain that must comply with the 1998 agreement as it withdraws from the European Union or there would be a separate trade agreement with the United States.
Biden said: “We cannot allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a victim of Brexit. Any trade agreement between the US and the UK must be dependent on respecting the Agreement and preventing the return of a firm border. Period.”
Business conversations
Meanwhile, the UK government said a round of informal EU trade talks this week were “useful” as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times that she is “convinced” of that an agreement is possible.
The discussions “covered a wide range of topics and some limited progress was made,” the UK government said in a statement Thursday night.
Still, the UK said “significant gaps remain in key areas, including fisheries and subsidies.”
The two sides are trying to come up with a trade deal that will take effect once Britain’s post-Brexit transition period closes at the end of the year. But they have been entangled by the UK’s desire to curb the access of EU fishing vessels to its waters, and by the so-called level playing field, in particular, the EU state aid rules that the UK will have. to follow after leaving the block. .
“We will continue to work hard to close those gaps in the talks next week, without compromising our fundamental position of being an independent country,” the UK government said.
Dr. von der Leyen told the newspaper that while Johnson’s decision to introduce legislation allowing his government to violate the terms of the withdrawal agreement reached between the two parties was “a very unpleasant surprise” and a “distraction” , attention must remain on the strike. a business deal. “I am still convinced that it can be done,” she said.
Negotiators are trying to reach an agreement in mid-October in order to allow time for it to be ratified before the end of the year. – Reuters / Bloomberg
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