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The UK has published a bill on how it wants to manage trade within its borders after Brexit, a bill that sparked a new dispute with the European Union after the government admitted it would violate international law.
The internal market bill will be subject to debate and approval by both houses of parliament before it becomes law.
These are the main points of the bill:
Breaking international law
The bill says its provisions will take effect “despite inconsistency or incompatibility with international or national law.”
Northern Secretary Brandon Lewis told the House of Commons on Tuesday, September 8, that the legislation “violates international law in a very specific and limited way.”
North Ireland
The bill will transpose British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s election promises to ensure that Northern Ireland products have unrestricted access to the UK market into national law and will make clear that EU state aid rules, which continue to apply in Northern Ireland, they will not apply to other countries. Brittany.
These points have raised concerns in the EU as Britain has unilaterally decided to change, or as the British government clarifies, some of the provisions of the withdrawal agreement that they signed in January.
The British government says it had to make the clarifications to remove “any ambiguity and ensure that the government can always honor its commitments to the people of Northern Ireland” and protect the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The bill gives ministers unilateral power to change or repeal rules for the export of goods traveling from Britain to Northern Ireland.
State aid
The bill will make clear that Britain will be able to establish its own subsidy scheme, while Northern Ireland will continue to apply EU state aid rules.
This move is seen as crucial for the Johnson government, which has resisted the EU’s demands to be aligned with its rules, saying that all countries outside the bloc have the right to establish their own subsidy regime.
Spending power
As with state aid, the bill grants spending powers to the government, allowing ministers to design and implement replacement schemes for EU spending programs.
It will also allow the British government to provide financial assistance to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with new powers to spend taxpayers’ money previously administered by the EU.
Starting in January 2021, the UK will be able to invest in communities and businesses across the country with powers spanning infrastructure, economic development, culture, sport and support for educational, training and exchange opportunities both within the UK and internationally.
Mutual recognition
The bill will implement principles of mutual recognition and non-discrimination to ensure that the rules governing the production and sale of goods and services in one part of the country are recognized in another.
Each decentralized administration will still be able to set its own standards as it does now, while still being able to benefit from trading companies based anywhere in the UK.
The bill also says the government will consider the task of an independent advisory body to report back to parliament on the functioning of the internal market.
Return
The bill will bind the British government when acting on behalf of England in areas of decentralized jurisdiction.
The government says the transfer of powers from the EU to the British government will complement and strengthen existing support given to citizens in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by delegated administrations, without taking away their responsibilities.
Both Scotland and Wales say the bill will undermine the UK by stealing powers from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Under the delicate constitutional balance of the United Kingdom, the semi-autonomous parliaments and governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, known as decentralized administrations, have powers over areas such as education, health, policing and justice.
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