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On Thursday, the British government defied threats from the European Union to take legal action over controversial legislation related to Britain’s exit from the European Union, and responded to an opposition movement within its ranks for violating a binding treaty.
London on Thursday rejected an ultimatum The European Union It has taken legal action against it because of its legislation on a controversial bill related to Britain’s exit from the European Union, and has responded to an opposition movement within its ranks for violating a binding treaty.
The UK bill has complicated the disengagement process to end nearly 50 years of European integration, and European Commission Vice President Marus Sivkovic was quick to travel to London to demand clarification.
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The potential ramifications of the Northern Ireland bill, which is supposed to enjoy special status after Brexit, also led to powerful American democracy, Nancy Pelosi, reminding London to keep the peace process in the troubled region. .
He recalled the legislators and members of the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Boris JohnsonIncluding former Prime Minister John Major and former party leader Michael Howard, with such rhetoric that the rule of law is sacred.
Howard said in the House of Lords: “How can we blame Russia, China or Iran when their behavior falls short of internationally accepted standards, while showing so little respect for our obligations under the treaty?”
During the emergency meeting, Sivkovic told British State Minister Michael Gove that unless the bill’s proceedings are withdrawn “before the end of the month”, Brussels would consider going to court.
The European Commission has warned that Britain has “seriously damaged trust between the European Union and the United Kingdom” and has disparaged the British government’s argument that the bill would keep the peace in Northern Ireland.
“In fact (Brussels) sees it doing the opposite,” the statement said.
However, the British government has shown no willingness to back down.
“I made it clear to UNHCR Vice President Civkovic that we will not withdraw this legislation and he understood. Of course, he expressed his regret,” Gove said.
When asked about growing concern among Conservatives, Gove said all parties would have a chance to review the bill in Parliament next week, which he described as “critical” for business and peace in Northern Ireland. .
Urgent action?
The bill would give British ministers unilateral powers to regulate trade between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, once EU law expires after a post-Brexit transition period ending at the end of this year.
But under the EU’s withdrawal treaty, Britain is supposed to approach Brussels on arrangements for Northern Ireland, which will have the UK’s only land border with the European Union and where 30 years of bloodshed ended with a landmark peace agreement in 1998.
France told the UK that it was “unacceptable” to violate the treaty with the European Union, and the British pound saw a further decline in currency markets, with companies increasingly concerned about the collapse of the British economy hit by the new virus. Crown from the brink of Brexit later this year.
Irish Prime Minister Michel Martin, who spoke by phone with Johnson on Wednesday night, said such an outcome would result from “massive irresponsibility” in addition to the economic chaos caused by Covid-19.
European Union officials – and Johnson’s opponents at home and in the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish governments – ridiculed Downing Street’s argument that the treaty was “hastily” drafted and contained unexpected problems with a protocol for North Ireland.
But the UK government has published a Legal Position to clarify that it believes that, despite any binding promise to the European Union, “Parliament is sovereign in terms of national law and can pass laws that violate treaty obligations. from United Kingdom”.
No way
Sivkovic and Gove met on the final day of the parallel track talks in London this week on a future post-transition business relationship.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said Britain is still unable to make progress in key areas and “there are still major disagreements.”
But despite this, and the broader disagreement, Brussels has expressed its commitment to reaching an agreement.
Critics of Boris Johnson say the new bill is designed in part to torpedo trade talks, so Britain can go its way and make other deals away from EU intervention, most notably with the United States.
However, the speaker of the US House of Representatives gave Pelosi no hope that Congress would back a future trade deal if Britain went ahead with the new Brexit-related bill.
Pelosi said London should abide by the Northern Ireland Protocol in the treaty with the European Union, which establishes borderless trade with Ireland, a member of the European Union, in compliance with the 1998 Peace Agreement.
He warned that “if the UK violates that international treaty and Brexit undermines the Good Friday Agreement (in Ireland), then there will be no chance that the US-UK trade deal will pass in Congress.”
France 24 / AFP
