European Union takes legal action against Britain over planned Brexit bill

The European Union took legal action against Britain today over its plans to pass legislation that would violate parts of the legally binding divorce agreement that both parties reached late last year.

The EU action underscored worsening relations with Britain, which was a member of the bloc until January 31. Both sides are trying to forge a rudimentary free trade deal before the end of the year, but the fight over the UK’s controversial internal market bill has sour relations over the past month.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the British plan “by its very nature is a violation of the obligation of good faith established in the Withdrawal Agreement”.

“If adopted as is, it will be in total contradiction to the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol” in the withdrawal agreement.

The EU had given London until Wednesday to withdraw the bill, but instead British lawmakers voted 340-256 on Tuesday to push the legislation past its last major hurdle in the House of Commons. It must also be approved by the House of Lords, where it is sure to meet strong opposition because it violates international law.

At the same time, UK and EU officials continued talks on a trade deal, entering into detailed negotiations on everything from fishing rights, state aid rules and legal oversight in case of disputes.

The UK and the EU have little time to amend the barriers. A transition period that followed Britain’s exit from Brexit ends in less than 100 days, on December 31.

The EU-UK trade negotiation session is supposed to conclude on Friday, but negotiations are expected to continue until the EU summit on October 15-16, which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set as a deadline. for a deal. The EU said talks could continue until the end of the month.

The UK internal market bill now complicates matters even more. If signed into law, it will give Britain the power to ignore part of the Brexit withdrawal treaty dealing with trade to and from Northern Ireland, which shares a 500-kilometer border with Ireland.

EU leaders fear that this could lead to the re-imposition of a hard land border and erode the stability that has underpinned the peace since the 1998 Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland.

The British government says it respects the peace deal and the Brexit withdrawal agreement, but wants the law to be a ‘safety net’ in case the EU makes unreasonable demands after Brexit that could hamper trade between Ireland from the North and the rest of the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s large parliamentary majority ensured that the bill passed in the final vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday night, despite resistance from opposition parties and even some members of the ruler. Conservative Party.

Britain says it wants a free trade agreement similar to the one the EU has with Canada, allowing for trade in goods without tariffs or quotas.

The EU says that if the UK wants access to European markets, it must respect the standards that EU companies must abide by, as Britain is too close to allow undercutting rules that would allow so-called “dumping” of UK goods at lower prices than in the EU.

– AP