More than four years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom is once again plunged into another Brexit crisis – a dramatic move by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to rewrite parts of an early divorce deal. EU leaders take legal action.
The UK formally left the group in January, signing a withdrawal agreement with the EU in 2019. That technical departure marks the beginning of the transition period as both parties enter into a free trade agreement that ends once the transition is complete. 2020.
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But as negotiations stall, Johnson’s government is increasingly frustrated with what it sees as the EU’s insider and has taken dramatic steps to introduce an internal market bill last week – which could require ministers to rewrite parts of the withdrawal agreement. Apply to Northern Ireland.
The agreement included a protocol from Northern Ireland protocol that sought to prevent a strict land border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and Ireland (EU member). The rest of Northern Ireland from the UK’s new internal market bill will allow the UK government to rewrite those rules if there is no free trade agreement.
Johnson said in an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday that the UK was responding to EU threats to “impose a full-fledged trade border under the Irish Sea” until the Union agreed to its terms on free terms. Trade deal.
“We are being told that the EU will not only impose tariffs on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but they can actually stop the transport of food products from GB to NI,” he said, adding that it is “important”. That option will be turned off.
The move also drew sharp criticism from Johnson’s own party inside Britain, which accused the government of threatening to renew the international treaty.
Sajid Javid, the former Conservative Chancellor of Exxon, said he would not vote for the bill because “I cannot support the UK’s pre-defensive renewal” on the EU agreement. Former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major have also spoken out against the move.
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Presented for a second reading of the bill in the House of Commons on Monday, Johnson sought to reassure legislators that power in the bill is only a last resort.
“I have no desire to use this measure,” Johns said. “They have an insurance policy.”
Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary of the opposition Labor Party, accused Johnson of “tarnishing the image of this country and the reputation of his office.”
Due to the Conservative Party’s strong presence in the House of Commons, the bill passed on its second reading – but 27 members broke the party’s whip and stayed away. The Times of London has reported that other Tory lawmakers have warned they will vote against the government and try to amend the law when it comes before the Commons committee next week.
File – In this Wednesday, September 9, 2020 file photo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street to attend the weekly session of the Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament in London. (AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)
The move has sparked outrage in both Brussels and Washington, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed concern that Johnson’s move could threaten the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. If that were the case, he said, there would be no prospect of a US-UK trade deal.
Jones has pushed back the claim, saying it is an EU interpretation that would weaken the union and endanger peace in Northern Ireland, not the British response.
If it becomes law, the European Union has threatened possible legal action against the UK, after emergency talks last week, the European Commission said, adding that Vice President Maros Sefkovic had “reminded the UK government that the withdrawal agreement has a number of methods and legal remedies to address.” . Violation of the legal obligations contained in the text – which the European Union will not be ashamed to use. ”
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Talks are set to continue this week in Brussels despite the controversy. Both sides have said the deal must be agreed in the coming months, with Johnson threatening to pull out of talks if no deal is reached by mid-October.
Without deals, tariffs and other sanctions will almost certainly be imposed by both parties early next year.
The Associated Press contributes to this report.
