The EU sees Johnson’s threat to skip the Northern Ireland protocol as “unacceptable”

Tense telephone conversation between the UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Trussand the Vice President of the European Commission and responsible for Brexit, Maros Sefcovic. The head of British diplomacy has officially informed Brussels of her intention to unilaterally abolish the customs and sanitary controls provided for in the Northern Ireland protocol. A measure that the European Union considers “unacceptable” and that would have consequences, Sefcovic has warned him.

The protocol aims to prevent a new land border on the island of Ireland after Brexit. To achieve this, the EU and Boris Johnson they agreed in 2018 a special status for Northern Irelandwhich remains linked to the rules of the EU internal market. That means, in practice, the border has moved to the Irish Seawith new customs controls on products arriving at the ports of Northern Ireland from the island of Great Britain.

The new border has in particular infuriated Northern Irish unionists, who say it endangers the country’s territorial integrity. In fact, The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has warned that it will block a new Northern Irish government until this issue is resolved. Although it was Sinn Féin – the former political arm of the IRA terrorist organization – that won the regional elections last weekend, the formation of the Executive requires the agreement of the DUP.

In his call this Thursday, Truss told Sefcovic that “the Northern Ireland protocol has become the biggest obstacle to forming a Northern Ireland Government.” He has also stated that “the current situation is causing unacceptable disruption to trade and has created a two-tier system in which Northern Ireland citizens are not treated in the same way as everyone else in the UK.”

The head of British diplomacy maintains that the solutions that the EU has proposed to make the protocol more flexible will aggravate the problems “by creating more controls and paperwork.” According to her version, Sefcovic has replied that “there is no margin to extend the EU’s negotiating mandate or introduce new proposals to reduce the level of trade friction”.

“The situation in Northern Ireland is a matter of internal peace and security for the UK, and if the EU does not show the flexibility to help resolve those issues, then as a responsible government, we will have no choice but to actTruss concluded.

“We are still very concerned that the UK government intends to take the path of unilateral action,” the vice president of the European Commission replied. “The one-sided actionwhich in fact would mean ceasing to apply an international agreement such as the protocol, it’s just unacceptableSefcovic argues.

“This would undermine trust between the EU and the UK and would compromise our ultimate goal: to protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions, while ensuring legal certainty and predictability for people and businesses in Northern Ireland,” said the Vice-President of the Commission.

Abolishing customs and health controls in the Irish Sea as the Boris Johnson government intends would also destroy the conditions necessary for Northern Ireland to continue to have access to the EU single market, Sefcovic points out.

The Vice President of the Commission has not wanted to anticipate the retaliatory measures that the EU will adopt against London if it chooses this path. Among the tools that Brussels has at its disposal is the opening of a sanction file, but above all the suspension of the free trade agreement with the United Kingdom, which would mean imposing tariff surcharges on British products. Namely, a trade war between Western partners in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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