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Before the next Brexit round, Boris Johnson threatened with an ultimatum
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Andrew Parsons / i-Images / imago images / i Images
Before the next round of talks on Tuesday between Great Britain and the EU on a Brexit follow-up agreement, tensions between the two sides have increased massively again.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier expressed anger on Monday at a British newspaper report that Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to reopen crucial parts of the deal with the EU on the Northern Ireland issue.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called on London to keep their word.
Johnson had previously threatened to exit without a trade deal if an agreement was not reached by October 15.
His government is prepared for such a case.
"I trust that the British government will implement the exit agreement," said von der Leyen on Twitter.
Compliance with the treaty is "an obligation under international law and a prerequisite for any future partnership".
The protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland is essential "to protect peace and stability on the island and the integrity of the internal market," said von der Leyen.
"Everything that has been signed must be respected," Michel Barnier told France Inter radio station in Paris.
"The negotiations are difficult because the British want the best of both worlds."
However, he still considered it possible to find an agreement on the particularly contentious issue of fishing rights.
Ireland warns against a "very unwise" move
Regardless of the warnings from Brussels, the British government confirmed that it wanted to change the compromise reached with the EU on the Northern Ireland complex in the Brexit agreement.
"We are taking limited and reasonable measures in national law to clarify specific elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol," said a government spokesman in London on Monday.
This should "remove any ambiguity" and "ensure that the government is always able to meet its obligations to the people of Northern Ireland".
The British newspaper "Financial Times" had previously reported that Johnson wanted to overturn two core agreements with the EU on Northern Ireland with a new law.
The difficult Northern Ireland question was one of the biggest points of contention between the British and the EU and was renegotiated under Johnson in October 2019.
Ireland's Foreign Secretary Simon Coveney warned London against a "very unwise" move.
One has to wait and see whether there will really be a British law or whether it is a matter of "political gimmicks", Coveney told the broadcaster RTE.
Sinn Fein and other pro-European parties in Northern Ireland said any change to the agreement would be a "serious betrayal".
According to the Reuters news agency, a spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry warned that such a breach of trust could "burden" the ongoing negotiations.
An EU diplomat in Brussels noted: "Who wants to sign a trade deal with a country that doesn't implement international treaties?"
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