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The author is a UK Brexit minister
Having joined the EU in our free trade, this time last year, I hope that 2021 can be the start of a new UK-EU relationship with the EU. Away from the noise, much is going well. But one problem is difficult and I have been monitoring it for a long time – the Northern Ireland protocol.
Indeed, no one could have predicted the past year of 2021. We saw the EU’s attempt in January to impose a ban on sending vaccines across the Irish border; their insistence on interpreting the policy as if it provided the EU’s external borders across the UK; filing of criminal offenses that may have been brought before the European Court of Justice; and political unrest including the departure of the first prime minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster.
Economically, supply chains began to change and trade began to change. Despite the £ 500m we have committed to implementing the plan, we have seen a decline in inventory, product shortages, and rising consumer prices.
By the summer, the practical and political tensions created by the protocol were evident to all. Fortunately, we were able to calm down by giving, in our July command paper, a complete and complete solution to problems.
We also decided that the best way, if we could achieve it, would be to get the results discussed instead of using the protections contained in Article 16 of the protocol. Since then we have been discussing in detail the EU on the way forward, including a few EU proposals presented in October.
Unfortunately, we were not able to progress as much as I would like. With the exception of drugs, which we will carefully and carefully examine the EU sentiment we now have, what Brussels has put on the table is not doing enough to reduce the burden or cover all the problems that the people of Northern Ireland are facing. .
The burdensome trade arrangements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland need to be radically changed, given the importance of Northern Ireland’s economic connectivity to the rest of the UK, beyond its further connection with Ireland.
The simple solution is to establish a range of goods that both parties agree to stay in the UK and those that do not, and address any potential risks involved. The EU opinion does not do this and our expert analysis does not agree with what people wanted when it was published.
Similarly, government aid regulations in Northern Ireland should reflect the fact that, since the policy was signed, we have adopted new financial management principles in our free trade agreement, and the establishment of a new and more stable domestic authority. Legislation in Northern Ireland needs to be amended to reflect this.
And the answer must be found in the leadership – the non-democratic methods used by EU law in Northern Ireland, and the responsibility of the ECJ. I know sometimes people criticize this as an emotional demand. But no solution would work if the European Commission were to hold the ECJ accountable for what we did, as happened in March. Responding to this type of hair is not the right way to get a permanent solution in Northern Ireland and it is obviously unfair and inappropriate for disputes between us to be resolved by the court of one of the parties.
We want to find a solution to all these problems and other problems. But, considering the urgency, we are prepared to consider short-term contracts that address major issues – trade disputes, subsidy adjustments, and ECJ. We have offered various promotions, but so far we have not found a compromise – even that which is in a temporary agreement.
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Things are still very difficult. The protocol that was supposed to support the Belfast Agreement (Friday) is now in jeopardy. Northern Ireland agencies are at high risk.
A recent survey last week showed that 78 percent of Northern Ireland people want to make small changes in what is happening.
As long as no response was agreed, Article 16 security remains on the table. It may be the only way to solve these problems. But it is better to find a way to communicate if we can. Time is limited. That is why these negotiations need to start again in the new year if we are to achieve what we can offer to everyone in Northern Ireland. The UK does this.
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