Northern Ireland: London launches unilateral review of post-Brexit status

After months of stalemate, the British government took action on Monday by presenting to Parliament its bill which calls into question the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland, at the risk of reprisals from Europeans who judge the illegal text.

While the EU has threatened the British government with legal action, saying its initiative undermines "mutual trust", London believes it can no longer wait given the political paralysis caused by the Northern Irish protocol in the British province.

After threatening to purely and simply override this international treaty which it negotiated and signed, the government of Boris Johnson has chosen to legislate to modify it unilaterally.

“We are very clear that we are acting legally,” assured the head of diplomacy Liz Truss on television.

“Protect our territorial integrity”

If passed, which could take months, the text "will end this untenable situation where the people of Northern Ireland are treated differently from the rest of the UK, will protect the supremacy of our courts and our territorial integrity”, she explained in a press release, defending a “reasonable solution”.

The serious situation in Northern Ireland means we cannot afford to delay.

This Bill sets out comprehensive solutions to fix problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol, while protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.https://t.co/4pFlz7IQhm pic.twitter.com/HEse2Hq4B1

— Liz Truss (@trussliz) June 13, 2022

She repeated that London remained open to a negotiated solution, but on condition that the EU agrees to "change the protocol" and not just adjust it as is currently the case.

The protocol aims to protect the single European market after Brexit without causing the return of a physical demarcation between the British province and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union, which could jeopardize peace.

To resolve this squaring of the circle, the government of Boris Johnson had accepted that Northern Ireland should remain de facto within the European market, establishing a customs border in the Irish Sea, with checks and paperwork.

If the text has not been fully applied, it complicates supplies and horrifies the Unionist community, which believes that the place of the province within the United Kingdom is threatened.

Only goods destined for the EU checked

Concretely, the British government wants goods circulating and remaining within the United Kingdom to pass through a “green channel”, freeing them from administrative procedures.

Goods destined for the EU will remain subject to all the checks and controls applied under European law.

According to the bill, the province will be able to benefit from the same state aid as the rest of the United Kingdom and disputes will be settled before an independent arbitration mechanism and no longer before the European Court of Justice, a major point of contention between London and Brussels.

"Frankly it's a fairly trivial series of adjustments," Boris Johnson relativized on LBC radio, assuring that the project was legal.

"Our primary commitment as a country relates to the Good Friday Agreement", signed in 1998 to put an end to three decades of violence between Unionists, especially Protestants, and Republicans, with a Catholic majority, causing 3,500 deaths.

Liz Truss explained herself by calling European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, his Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, while the administration of Joe Biden, of Irish origin, was very critical.

Regretting the British move, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured that the EU would respond "in a unified manner" while the head of American diplomacy Anthony Blinken urged London to "continue negotiations in good faith" with the EU.

Sinn Fein rejects review

Maros Sefcovic assured that the EU had proposed "solutions", regretting "unilateral action undermining mutual trust".

Simon Coveney, with whom the call lasted barely 12 minutes, criticized London for "not having engaged in meaningful negotiations".

In Belfast, despite the bill, the DUP is still refusing to take part in a new government in Belfast, supposed to be led for the first time by Sinn Fein Republicans after their victory in the May 5 local elections.

Read alsoBritish elections: five minutes to understand Sinn Fein's victory in Northern Ireland

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson hailed "an important step" but said he wanted to see the bill move through parliament before deciding.

In a joint letter, elected officials from parties representing the majority of the local Assembly (including Sinn Fein) said they "reject in the strongest possible terms" the British law.

For them, “if it is not ideal, the protocol represents the only available protection” against the effects of Brexit but also “an economic advantage” with “access to two major markets”.