Only seven months after its entry into force, Northern Ireland The agreement once again proved to be an important fuse for Britain’s relations with Dublin and Brussels.
Wednesday, UK Published “Command Paper” On the agreement.Some will see it as an attempt to tear up the agreement reached by Boris Johnson in 2019; others will see it as a serious attempt to resolve what they believe was flawed from the beginning but the agreement signed was to help the British Prime Minister Complete Brexit, As he promised.
Why publish papers now?
The EU and the UK recently agreed to extend negotiations on the implementation of the protocol until September 30.This is an attempt Brexit Minister David Frost sets the agenda before the summer meeting.
What is written on the paper?
Cancel any role of EU institutions in implementing the agreement
The British team proposed to rewrite most of the agreement, including Article 5 (covering Brexit inspections including customs documents) and Article 12 (related to the supervision and enforcement of arrangements). This is because the UK wants to abolish any role of EU institutions, including the European Court of Justice. Article 6 and/or Article 7 may also need to be changed. The British side stated that the EU’s participation in regulating the transaction would only “create mistrust and problems”.
Pause period for renegotiation
Abolish the red tape of parcels from the United Kingdom and the new arrangement of the “honest box” system of others
During the “standstill period”, part of the operation of the agreement will continue, but the EU agreed to suspend legal actions against the United Kingdom and suspend the grace period. The United Kingdom believes that this is just creating false deadlines and crises and distracting the attention of both parties. “core”. Britain believes that this is the only way to create room for renegotiation.
Cancel customs inspection
The United Kingdom also proposed to cancel the package of customs paperwork for traders from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland. Instead, there is a “trust and verification” system called the “honest box”, where traders will register their sales in a one-touch system, allowing their supply chain to be checked to ensure compliance. Those who sell to the Republic of Ireland will continue to use customs documents.
Clear the way for restoring worry-free packages and online shopping
The UK believes that the removal of customs barriers will also solve the problem for online shoppers, who either experience several weeks of delays when trying to ship goods from the UK, or find that retailers will not deliver to their region at all.
Dual supervision
The United Kingdom requires the establishment of a new dual regulatory system. As long as finished products or sanitary or phytosanitary (SPS) products comply with “UK or EU rules determined by the UK or EU regulatory agencies”, they can be sold in Northern Ireland. This is very tricky because it returns to the protection sought by the European Union to prevent substandard goods from entering the single market through Northern Ireland’s back door. But this would bypass the Barrier of Origin rule, which imposes tariffs on goods sold from EU countries through the UK to NI.
What about Article 16?
Lord Frost stated that the United Kingdom reserves the right to trigger Article 16 and suspend the agreement, but said that it is not the time because it believes it is preferable to reach a consensus agreement.
Is this admitting that the agreement is flawed?
Yes it is. Senior sources said it allowed the UK to leave the European Union “as a country”, but acknowledged that the difficulties in Ireland can be traced back to what they believed was a flawed joint report signed by Theresa May in December 2017. Set an agenda agreement for Ireland. They said that this problem must be resolved now.
Have the EU and the US received an early warning?
Both listened to the briefing. The UK believes that their failure to take unilateral actions in the past few months shows that their actions and actions are sincere, and they expressed the hope that the EU will respond.
Anything else?
The UK is also in favor of solving the “rules of origin” obstacles.
