A generationn Brexit There is no deadline for negotiation. To be sure, it is the United Kingdom that needs to be postponed. As always, the reason was failure to understand the meaning of things agreed before the deadline.
According to this model, the government once again this week Extend the “grace period” Exemption from inspection of cargo transportation between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The UK unilaterally waived the early March deadline; the second date in October is Agree with the European CommissionNow, Brexit Minister David Frost said that the exemption will be indefinite, “providing room for possible further discussion of changes in the Northern Ireland agreement.”
Little progress was made in that conversation because, as in the past in the Brexit negotiations, the two sides have incompatible ideas about what they are discussing. The EU believes that the task at hand is to find a solution to Britain’s concerns within the terms of the existing agreement.Lord Frost says the agreement requires Full renegotiation. European capitals have no interest in this. The message to London is that a treaty has been signed; a transaction is a transaction. The technical solution to Boris Johnson’s problem must be found in the text.
But the problem is not just technical. This is also theological. For example, in one of the most embarrassing areas-veterinary inspection of agricultural products-the simplest solution involves the harmonization of British and Brussels standards. But this will be a dilution of supervisory sovereignty and is unacceptable to the high priest of Brexit.
Lord Frost did not abandon the more relaxed model of mutual recognition and open borders that had been rejected. The UK countered that the committee is theologically rigid and obsessed with penetrating non-compliant products in the single market through Northern Ireland, and that this threat is hypothetical. But the real obstacle is trust. Mr. Johnson’s every move during the Brexit process promoted his unreliability as a partner.threaten Violation of an existing transaction This is not a good prelude when asking for better.
This is part of a broader crisis in British diplomacy and expresses a fundamental error in the Brexit theory. Britain, liberated from Brussels, should have become so powerful with the restoration of sovereignty that it could give orders in international negotiations.
Things did not develop like this.U.S. President Joe Biden Not in a hurry A trade agreement that Eurosceptics sees as a lucrative alternative to the single market. (The economics of that swap never added up. With Donald Trump leaving the White House, the political calculus was solved.)
It was reported on Wednesday that in order to reach a trade agreement with Australia, the UK agreed to Give up promise Paris Climate Agreement-Mr. Johnson will pretend to surrender in areas that he claims to have global leadership at the Cop26 summit to be held later this year.
Britain is a lonely country, eager to be recognized by non-European countries, and is unwilling to accept repairing relations with Britain. Europe It is a top priority. It may be necessary to postpone a few more deadlines before bringing reality home. Mr. Johnson may wish to suspend his treaty obligations indefinitely, but the broader issue of Brexit boils down to geographical and economic facts and cannot be suspended unilaterally.
