Northern Ireland Protocol Bill slammed by EU ambassador

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Germany’s ambassador to the EU, Michel Clause, has said that EU countries will not change the mandate of chief negotiator Maroš Šefčovič to allow him to renegotiate the NI Protocol. The move likely means that the Government will need to go-ahead with their plan to unilaterally make changes to the deal, potentially facing the ire of Europe.

He noted that all options were on the table if the Government went ahead with its plans and said that the EU capitals were unified in the belief that the Protocol could not be renegotiated.

While speaking at a conference on post-Brexit relations between the EU and the UK, he claimed that Olaf Scholz’s Government would take a tougher stance on the Protocol than former Chancellor Angela Merkle’s had.

He also hinted that UK access to the EU’s Horizon programme, a multi-billion Euro science funding programme, would likely be contingent on the NI Protocol.

He told London-based WELT correspondent Stefanie Bolzen: “It is part of the Brexit deal that the UK would participate in Horizon and there’s a strong wish also from our side that that happens.

“But we also have to see that the political atmosphere needs to be right.”

He added: “The Chancellor Angela Merkel has been less explicit on this. When the Northern Ireland Bill was tabled, you had quite [strong] reactions from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and also from Foreign Minister Minister Annalena Baerbock…much more clear than what you would have had as a reaction a year ago.”

He claimed that the Northern Ireland Protocol was at the heart of the Brexit deal and the EU would keep all options open if the UK unilaterally changed the Protocol.

The NI Protocol has been a sticking point for Brexit negotiations as it is used to control goods coming into the UK without creating a hard border with Ireland, something which is integral to the Good Friday Agreement.

However, the Protocol has also led to the creation of an artificial border within the UK as goods coming to Northern Ireland from Great Britain must be checked against EU regulations.

This has caused trade hang-ups and inflamed tensions among Unionists in Northern Ireland. As a result, the Government announced a new bill which it says will solve the NI Protocol issue.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill would see the implementation of different lanes for EU and Northern Ireland goods, so that goods bound for NI would not need to go through customs checks.

It would see NI brought back in line with the rest of the UK when it comes to taxes, specifically the cutting of VAT.

The bill also removes some of the power of the European Court of Justice when it comes to its jurisdiction over laws on UK territory.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced the new bill in parliament last month, the move was met with resistance from EU politicians who claimed it would breach international law.

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Speaking in Parliament earlier this week, Ms Truss argued that the bill was both “necessary and legal”.

However, some in her own party disagreed. Former Prime Minister Theresa May tore into the Government’s plan, and claimed the EU would likely not want to negotiate further.

She said: “Why should [the EU] negotiate in detail, with a Government who shows itself willing to sign an agreement, claim it as a victory, and then try to tear part of it up in less than three years time?”

Ms May confirmed she would not be supporting the bill.

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