EU raises spectre of trade war if UK rewrites Northern Ireland protocol & More News Here

The European Commission has raised the spectre of an economically damaging trade war with the UK, pledging to reply with “all measures at its disposal” if Liz Truss presses forward with a plan to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol.

The international secretary set out plans on Tuesday to desk a invoice that will make key adjustments to the protocol, together with waiving all checks on items flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the place they don’t seem to be destined for the Republic of Ireland.

She mentioned the UK authorities nonetheless hoped to agree the adjustments it believes are obligatory, calling these “comprehensive and reasonable”. “Our preference is to reach a negotiated outcome with the EU. We have worked tirelessly to that end and will continue to do so,” she mentioned.

But she claimed the protocol in its present kind jeopardised the soundness of the Good Friday settlement, which she mentioned was “under strain” – and the federal government would act unilaterally if obligatory.

“To respond to the very grave and serious situation in Northern Ireland we are clear that there is a necessity to act to ensure the institutions can be restored as soon as possible,” Truss mentioned.

Part of the federal government’s motivation is to placate the Democratic Unionist get together, which is refusing to enter a power-sharing authorities with Sinn Féin at Stormont until the protocol is altered.

The DUP’s Westminster chief, Jeffrey Donaldson, mentioned Truss’s assertion was “a welcome if overdue step that is a significant move towards addressing the problems created by the protocol, and getting power-sharing, based upon a cross-community consensus, up and running again”.

His get together wish to see progress on the laws “in days and weeks, not months”, he mentioned.

Truss referred to as for the EU’s prime official in cost of UK relations, Maroš Šefčovič, to be given a rewritten negotiating mandate that will enable the protocol to be revised. However, Šefčovič responded to Truss’s assertion by issuing a veiled warning that the UK may lose its free trade preparations with the EU if it went forward.

Šefčovič, a European Commission vice-president who has been main talks on adjustments to the protocol, mentioned Truss’s proposals raised “significant concerns”, including: “Unilateral actions contradicting an international agreement are not acceptable.”

“Should the UK decide to move ahead with a bill disapplying constitutive elements of the protocol as announced today by the UK government, the EU will need to respond with all measures at its disposal,” he mentioned in an announcement.

The EU may hit UK items with tariffs inside seven days of authorized motion or freeze your complete trade deal agreed with Boris Johnson in 2020, two of three quick weapons at their disposal, in line with Catherine Barnard, an EU regulation professor on the University of Cambridge. Legal motion in opposition to the UK that was frozen as a goodwill gesture final yr would in all probability be restarted.

Truss mentioned the brand new laws could be revealed inside weeks, together with plans to create a “green channel” permitting items to be exported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland with out checks so long as they don’t seem to be destined for the Republic of Ireland.

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She mentioned this could create a “dual regulatory system that encompasses either EU or UK regulation as those businesses choose; that reflects its unique status of having a close relationship with the EU, while being part of the UK single market”.

The laws would additionally let the UK decide tax and spending in Northern Ireland. Truss pointed to the chancellor’s current choice to chop VAT on inexperienced power installations, which she mentioned he was unable to implement in Northern Ireland.

Brussels sources say no selections have been taken about methods to reply if Truss does legislate and expressed hope the UK would return to the negotiating desk to debate adjustments proposed by the EU. It was instructed that if the federal government tabled a invoice, Brussels would problem a proper warning and launch a course of to determine on retaliatory measures.

EU insiders imagine the UK has by no means severely engaged with what they see as far-reaching proposals to lighten customs and administrative checks made by Šefčovič final October.

However, Truss dismissed these within the Commons. “Their current proposals are not able to address the fundamental concerns. In fact it is our assessment that they would go backward from the situation we have today with the standstill,” she mentioned.

EU sources additionally level out {that a} change in mandate would require unanimous signoff by all member states.

They mentioned there was no need to vary Šefčovič’s mandate to allow wholesale adjustments to the protocol, a matter Truss described as a “fundamental issue”. The senior EU diplomat poured chilly water on this concept, saying: “The EU doesn’t have a mandate, the protocol is the mandate.”

The resurgence of the Northern Ireland row with the UK is seen by the EU as an unwelcome distraction at a time when Ukraine is combating off a brutal Russian invasion.

David McAllister, a German Christian Democrat MEP who chairs the European parliament’s international affairs committee, mentioned: “If you look at what is happening in the middle of Europe, a fully fledged military invasion, a horrible, horrific war and we are discussing again and again issues in Northern Ireland, which I believe could be solved with a bit of goodwill in London.”

The influential chair of a US congressional committee, Richard Neal, who’s heading to London and Brussels within the coming days in an try to move off additional deterioration of Anglo-Irish relations, warned: “Northern Ireland shouldn’t be held hostage in the political process, rather all parties must stay the course and continue to work together to find durable solutions.”

Neal is main a delegation of at the very least half a dozen US congressional representatives to Europe amid rising pressure over the Northern Ireland protocol. His journey will soak up London, Brussels, Dublin and Belfast.

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