Due to the post-Brexit arrangements, the disturbing Christmas truce is called Northern Ireland, Even if the EU says it will not negotiate a key British requirement in hostile negotiations.
Maroš Šefčovič, European Union Brexit The commissioner stated that after the Great Turn in the UK, there was “motivation” behind the discussion, but he refused to offer concessions in exchange for terms.
Downing Street has admitted in recent weeks that it will give priority to removing trade barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland over other constitutional issues that have plagued negotiations. The talks will be suspended until after Christmas.
But the blow to the British government is that despite the UK’s concessions, the commissioner even refused on Friday any request to renegotiate the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Northern Ireland’s enforcement of EU law. The court can retain its role in the protocol.
EU Commissioner Shevčovich in charge of UK relations said: “It was not at all controversial until this summer, so we are not ready to include this topic in our discussions.”
According to the agreement to withdraw from the agreement, Northern Ireland actually remains in the EU single market, and the EU’s customs border extends along the Irish Sea. The European Court of Justice is the final arbiter of disputes.
However, the British government wants an independent arbitration system instead of giving the European Court of Justice the final say, even though it has accepted in recent days that the Luxembourg Court will resolve EU law issues on arbitration issues.
There is a potential solution in the post-Brexit trade agreement and the EU-Switzerland agreement. But the European Commission said on Friday that this model is not yet feasible.
A senior EU official stated that the agreement is “completely different” from the EU-Swiss trade agreement, because the Northern Ireland agreement is based on “the direct application of a large number of EU legislation” rather than “elements of EU law, which are mentioned.” To or paraphrase”, such as the transaction with Berne. The official said: “According to the judgement, this arbitration solution is not enough and requires the full power of the court. “
Another obstacle is the European Commission’s refusal to restart the agreement signed by Boris Johnson more than two years ago.
The two sides agreed to extend the work stoppage arrangement beyond January 1 to avoid full tariffs on meat and agricultural imports.
But Brussels still does not trust the British government. A senior official said: “The fundamental stumbling block is that we need Britain to return to the logic of implementing the agreements it negotiated, signed and approved.”
The two sides also have differences in the process of the talks. Although British officials talked about a “phased approach,” that is, reaching agreement on issues one by one, the EU hopes to reach a single agreement.
Customs and health checks remain the main obstacles to negotiations. Although the European Union believes that it has generously put forward proposals to reduce red tape, the United Kingdom believes that its claim to abolish 50% of customs inspections and 80% of health inspections is untenable.
The European Union announced on Friday that after a supply threat, it will rewrite its drug rules to ensure that Northern Ireland still has access to life-saving treatment and daily drugs. Without changing the rules or grace period, the UK-based drug manufacturer warned that they might stop supplying products to Northern Ireland due to the additional costs of red tape.
Hundreds of drugs used by the NHS in Northern Ireland are at risk. The committee now proposes that the United Kingdom can authorize new drugs for use in Northern Ireland even if it has not yet been approved by the European Union regulators.
According to the proposal, quality control inspections, so-called “batch tests”, do not need to be repeated in Northern Ireland if they have already been carried out in the UK or the EU. These proposals must be approved by EU legislators and ministers before they can take effect.
At the same time, French European Union Minister Clement Bohn said that Paris would start to file a lawsuit against the British fishing license “in the coming days”, saying that Britain still owes a small number of French ships to allow them to operate in British waters.
“The next step will be to ask the committee to convene a partnership committee in the next few days to resolve issues in accordance with the provisions of the Brexit trade agreement,” Bohn said, adding that the procedure will target the “most urgent” cases.
