The United Kingdom has postponed its upcoming trade inspections on goods shipped from the island of Ireland to the United Kingdom, as both sides are trying to get rid of hostile negotiations on Brexit arrangements. Northern Ireland.
The Minister of Brexit, David FrostHe expressed that he accepted that the negotiations with the EU will continue into the new year, and issued a statement stating that the cheque originally scheduled to take effect on January 1 will be postponed as an act of “good faith”.
“The government believes that this pragmatic act of good faith helps to keep room for the continuation of negotiations on the agreement,” Lord Frost said. “It also ensures that Irish and Northern Irish traders will not face further uncertainty while the arrangement itself is still under discussion.”
Frost spoke with his European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on Wednesday and will speak again on Friday. People have high hopes that the talks will end at the end of the Christmas holiday.
Earlier this year, Downing Street seemed willing to disrupt negotiations by triggering Article 16 of the agreement to unilaterally suspend the arrangement on Northern Ireland.
But the attitude has eased in recent weeks, which has increased the hope of solving the most difficult problems. Brexit The problems of the past five years.
According to the tortuously negotiated agreement in the Brexit agreement, Northern Ireland actually remains in the European Union’s single market, with customs borders delineated along the Irish Sea. However, both parties agreed that the impact on trade between the UK and Northern Ireland would be heavy.
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However, after Frost responded to a new EU border plan, this consensus seemed to be in danger of breaking down. The plan insisted that he needed to rewrite transactions more thoroughly and reduce the number of cargo inspections by more than 50%. .
However, sources say that in recent weeks, Frost’s most controversial request, that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) loses its role as the arbiter of EU law in Northern Ireland, has been shelved.
A senior British official told reporters of European publications last week that demand for the European Court of Justice had fallen, even though the government later tried to distance itself from the briefing.
“If the negotiation fails, it will not be because the United Kingdom insisted that the European Court of Justice withdraw from the agreement,” the official reportedly said.
Despite frantically denying that there will be a U-turn, it is understood that the discussions between Frost and Shevcovic in recent weeks have indeed been more fruitful. Sources on both sides have said that an agreement is more likely to be reached in the new year. .
The agreement to ensure that the drugs approved by the United Kingdom can continue to be used in Northern Ireland is particularly close, although if a final agreement cannot be reached this week, the EU may still take unilateral action to resolve this issue before the new year.
Currently, most drugs imported from the United Kingdom must be tested in batches in laboratories in Northern Ireland, which is a huge expense and will reduce supply. This problem also affects EU member states, such as Malta, many of its drugs come from the United Kingdom.
