London, UK: The UK government has published plans to scrap parts of the post-Brexit deal it agreed with the EU in 2019, including getting rid of EU checks on goods traded between Britain and the province.
The new Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will give ministers powers to override parts of the original Brexit deal, At the heart of the government’s plan to ease the impact on businesses is the concept of green lanes and red lanes for trade.
This would mean:
- Goods coming from Great Britain (GB) into Northern Ireland (NI) and which are staying would use the green lane. This means there would be no checks and paperwork would be minimal.
- GB goods moving through NI into Ireland or the wider European Union would use the red lane and continue to be checked at NI ports.
- The proposals would also allow firms in Great Britain exporting to Northern Ireland to choose between meeting EU or UK standards on regulation, which are expected to increasingly diverge.
- The government has argued that maintaining peace in Northern Ireland, protecting the Good Friday Agreement, and preserving economic and social ties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain are “essential interests” of the UK.
- In its legal summary, the government said: “This is a genuinely exceptional situation and it is only in the challenging, complex and unique circumstances of Northern Ireland that the government has, reluctantly, decided to introduce legislative measures which, on entry into force, envisage the non-performance of certain obligations.
- “It is the government’s position that in light of the state of necessity, any such non-performance of its obligations contained in the withdrawal agreement and/or the protocol as a result of the planned legislative measures would be justified as a matter of international law.”
But the EU insists the move goes back on the deal and breaches international law.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s Brexit commissioner, hit out at the “damaging” move and threatened court action.
He said: “As the first step, the commission will consider continuing the infringement procedure launched against the UK government in March 2021. We had put this legal action on hold in September 2021 in the spirit of constructive cooperation to create the space to look for joint solutions. The UK’s unilateral action goes directly against the spirit.”
“The EU will on Wednesday restart legal action against the UK for the government’s failure to carry out checks on agrifoods and launch two new “infringement proceedings” for not establishing border posts and sharing data with the European Commission.”
Cold Chain Federation chief executive Shane Brennan said: “We support the green lane proposals to end checks on food bound from GB to NI, but the EU must agree for this to work. We need resolution here but we urge the government to seek agreement with the EU rather than take unilateral action.”
