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Boris Johnson has promised “to do everything we have to do”, including an attempt to nullify post-Brexit deals with the EU, to “ensure there are no barriers in the Irish Sea.”
After having talks with Northern Ireland Prime Minister Arlene Foster on Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister later raised the possibility of activating Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
It comes just days after the EU itself threatened, and then abandoned, an attempt to invoke Article 16 as part of the bloc’s dispute with drug makers over COVID vaccines and its efforts to introduce export controls on jabs. .
Opposition to the Protocol exists within Northern Ireland
Article 16 is intended to be used when the Protocol, designed to avoid a hard post-Brexit border on the island of Ireland and a key part of the UK Withdrawal Agreement, is unexpectedly causing serious “economic, social or environmental hardship”.
It allows the UK or the EU to act unilaterally to avoid these difficulties.
Johnson spoke in the House of Commons ahead of tough talks Wednesday between Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, Ms Foster and Northern Ireland Vice Minister Michelle O’Neill.
He told MPs during the prime minister’s questions: “I fully share the frustrations … about the way the EU, in particular the EU Commission, seemed to temporarily call for using the Protocol in such a way as to impose a contrary border. to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, contrary to the letter of the Good Friday Agreement.
“We will do whatever we have to do, either legislatively or by invoking Article 16 of the Protocol to ensure that there are no barriers in the Irish Sea.”
The prime minister also described how it was “very regrettable that the EU seemed to question the Good Friday Agreement, the principles of the peace process, apparently calling for a border across the island of Ireland.”
“We will work to ensure that there are no such borders, we will respect the peace process and indeed there will be no barriers in the Irish Sea, and that the principle of unrestricted access is respected in all parts of our UK.” added.
Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic are co-chairs of the EU-UK Joint Committee, which is responsible for monitoring and implementing the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol.
In an effort to ensure that there is no firm border on the island of Ireland, the Protocol allows Northern Ireland to remain under some EU rules.
But this means that there must be customs declarations on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, including checks on some products.
Businesses have blamed new post-Brexit requirements for recent shortages of some products in Northern Ireland supermarkets.
Meanwhile, post-Brexit border inspections were this week suspended at two of Northern Ireland’s busiest ports due to staff safety fears.
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Why did the EU activate Article 16?
Before their talks on Wednesday afternoon, Gove wrote to his EU counterpart with a series of demands.
These included:
- an extension of the current three-month grace period of light regulation for supermarkets, after the end of the Brexit transition, until 2023
- an extension of the temporary exemptions for pharmaceuticals, chilled meats and parcels crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, until 2023
- a bilateral agreement that “comprehensively addresses” current barriers to bringing pets between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland
- a rethinking of the EU ban on seed potato exports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Mr Gove also said that the UK and Northern Irish governments had “compiled a longer list” of problems with the Protocol’s implementation.
He told Mr. Sefcovic that the aborted implementation of Article 16 by the EU had “profoundly undermined the functioning of the Protocol and the community’s trust in it.”
Mr Gove also asked for assurances from the EU that it “will not attempt to introduce any additional measures that restrict or prohibit the movement of vaccines or medicines to Northern Ireland”.
He added that the UK was seeking “urgent resolution” of the problems with the Protocol.
After Ms. Foster’s talks with Mr. Johnson, the DUP said that the prime minister had told her that “his timetable for resolving all these issues is at the end of March.”
The party, which is fiercely opposed to the Protocol, on Tuesday urged people to sign a British parliamentary petition online calling for Johnson to activate Article 16 as a means to “immediately remove any barriers to unrestricted trade” between Northern Ireland. and Great Britain.
Ahead of Wednesday’s talks, Sefcovic described the Protocol as “a cornerstone” of the Withdrawal Agreement and “the only way to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in all dimensions, protecting peace and stability on the island. from Ireland”.
