LONDON (dpa-AFX) – In the dispute between Great Britain and the EU over Brexit rules for Northern Ireland, a committee of the British House of Lords has clearly criticized both sides. The “fundamentally flawed approaches” on both sides led to a serious deterioration in relations, according to a report by the committee on which the PA news agency reported on Thursday.
The committee accused the EU of “lack of balance, understanding and flexibility”, but also noted that the British approach was not clear and transparent enough.
“It will not be easy, but it is absolutely necessary that the UK and the EU work together now to find solutions so that Northern Ireland does not become a permanent victim of the Brexit process,” said committee chairman Jay of Ewelme of the news agency.
The background to the dispute is the agreement that Northern Ireland will continue to follow the rules of the EU internal market. This is to prevent goods controls between the British province and the EU member Republic of Ireland. Otherwise the conflict in the former civil war region is expected to flare up again.
However, the Northern Ireland Protocol makes trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK difficult. There must now be controls to ensure that no goods from third countries enter the EU internal market through the back door. This creates tension, especially among the predominantly Protestant supporters of the union with Great Britain.
Specifically, Great Britain wants to largely get rid of the goods controls for food and other goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and calls for the rules to be completely renegotiated. The EU rejects this, however./swe/DP/zb
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