Brexit: UK 'can't decide unilaterally' on protocol says Coveney

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The UK and EU have accused each other of acting in bad faith in relation to the movement of goods to and from Northern Ireland. Last week, the UK Government took the unilateral decision to extend the grace period for checks on goods flowing via Northern Ireland until October – a move the EU says threatens to breach international law.

In the wake of the UK’s move, the EU has threatened legal action causing some Brexiteers to call the Prime Minister to block money going to Brussels.

With this in mind, Express.co.uk is asking in today’s poll: “Should Boris Johnson cut off EU cash after border spat erupts?”

Brexiteer Mark Francois has also called on payments from the UK to the EU to be halted.

Over the next two years, Britain is due to hand the EU £20billion in Brexit ‘divorce’ payments, with more to follow in later years.

Mr Francois, chair of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of MPs, is demanding this be made contingent on compromise over Northern Ireland.

He also hit out at the EU for attempting to halt the delivery of vaccines to the UK via Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Protocol was created in the Brexit agreement to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland and ties Northern Ireland to the EU customs union and single market.

Since January, it has resulted in additional EU red tape and disrupted to the imports and exports between Northern Ireland, Europe and the rest of the UK.

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DUP leader Arlene Foster has called for the protocol to be scrapped and the Prime Minister has acknowledged changes need to be made.

In January, the European Commission briefly triggered Article 16 of the protocol in the wake of vaccine supply issues in the bloc, before making a U-turn.

The mechanism is only meant to be used a last resort when there are “economic, societal or environmental difficulties”.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Francois added: “Since we left the transition period the EU’s attitude has been increasing bellicose.

“First they criticised our ‘British’ vaccine and then attacked us for not giving them enough of it; then they triggered Article 16, in some overnight spasm, to create a hard border they had sworn to avoid – and now they are petulantly refusing to ratify a trade deal which it took year to negotiate.

“As Brits, we traditionally honour our obligations but you have to ask yourself why are we continuing to pay this Danegeld to people who only treat us with open contempt in return?”

Danegeld is a land tax levied in Ango-Saxon England to protect against Danish invaders .

Lord Frost, the Cabinet Minister leading UK-EU negotiations, said the decision to extended the implementation of the protocol was taken to “address the direct and often disproportionate impact that aspects of the protocol are having on citizens of Northern Ireland, contrary to its intended purpose”.

The First Minister of Northern Ireland has branded the protocol “damaging” and called for it to be replaced.

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She cited issues over the transport of fresh produce from Northern Ireland into Ireland even though goods were clearly labelled in euros – therefore could not be sold in the UK and would not pose a threat to the EU single market.

Additional checks and health certificates for animal product were due to come into force on April 1, but have been delayed for six months.

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney warned “politics is very strained” in the region due to the Northern Ireland Protocol and hit out at the UK to taking a decision on its own.

Speaking on Thursday, he said: “Of course, the EU has been considering and will consider further if flexibilities need to be accommodated, if there are genuine problems in terms of implementation, how we solve them.

“But that has got to be done collectively between the EU and the UK.

“We cannot move forward on the basis of one side just deciding unilaterally ‘Well, this is what must be done and we can’t wait for the other sides to agree with us’, and that’s essentially what the British Government has done.”

The Prime Minister went of a visit to Northern Ireland on Friday to try and smooth out tensions.

Mr Johnson insisted protocol was creating more processes and checks than it should and that is why the Government moved to delay its implementation until longer-term solutions are found with the EU.

He said: “What I didn’t want to see was loads of checks on stuff going from GB to NI in such a way as to interrupt trade and to confuse and irritate people.

“I didn’t want to see barriers to the circulation of sausages and tractors with mud on their tyres and all the rest of it.

“And nor did I think that would be necessary and I think that’s why we put in the easements we have, because I think it’s sensible for there to be some balance in this and I think there’s a commonsensical way forward and that’s what we want to have.”

Talks between the UK and EU will continue in the coming week and the Northern Ireland Assembly will be able to vote on whether to scrap the protocol in 2024.

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