Former Brexit Party MEP slams EU over Northern Ireland border

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Last week, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic outlined a set of measures to the UK aimed at resolving post-Brexit trade issues in Northern Ireland. These included eliminating 80 percent of regulatory checks and cutting customs processes on the movement of goods between Britain and the island of Ireland. But the European Union proposals have fallen a long way short of what the UK is demanding, which includes the removal of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as the final arbitrator in any future trade dispute between the two sides.

Brussels officials are becoming increasingly impatient, and have implied there could be a trade war if the UK does not cave to some of the key problems Lord Frost has raised.

However, a shocking report from Facts4EU.Org suggests the EU’s ‘UK Treasure Island’ delivers a staggering 69 percent of the bloc’s entire world trade surplus.

In the 12 months to the end of August, the report revealed EU goods sales to the UK totalled a huge £252.2billion.

EU purchases from the UK were just under half of that at £131.7billion, meaning the EU’s trade surplus – the difference between exports and imports – stood at £120.5billion.

As a result, trade with the UK delivers 69 percent of EU’s entire trade surplus with the rest of the world, which totals £175.4billion, Facts4EU.org suggests.

The group explained in its report: “In the case of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the EU over the last 12 months, this difference is stark.

“The balance in favour of the EU is now over £120 billion pounds per annum.

“This is approximately 10 times the UK’s gross contribution to the EU when it was still a member state.

“The EU’s total international trade surplus for the last 12 months to end-Aug 2021 was £175.4billion (€199.9billion).

“The UK accounted for an astonishing 68.7 percent of this, or £120.5billion (€137.4biliion).”

The analysis also suggests, for the 12-month period, trade data shows the EU has been selling an average of £691million worth of goods to the UK every day.

There is also a massive gap between what the EU27 sells to the UK – and what the UK sells to the EU27 – with the bloc’s sales to Britain now 91 percent higher than the UK’s sales to the EU.

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In addition, the data shows one in seven international sales from the EU are to British companies and the British public as a whole.

Facts4EU explained: “Our research show that one in seven of all purchases of EU goods (by value) which are made outside the EU come from Brexit Britain.

“Any EU business faced with a proportion like this will do everything it can to ensure it can continue to have these revenues rolling in.

“To put it simply, the majority of businesses operate on less than a 10 percent profit margin.

“The UK represents 13.7 percent of all EU27 sales worldwide. Putting this at risk will certainly get the attention of most boardrooms around the EU.”

Reacting to the report, European Research Group vice chairman David Jones said: “If the Commission truly care about the interests of the EU businesses that ultimately pay their handsome wages, they will swiftly agree to sensible terms with the UK.

“Otherwise, they will be the losers.”

Conservative Party MP Sir John Redwood also said: “UK consumers will buy more local items, the more the EU threatens us.”

“We lost market share in steel and cars, in fish and farm products, in energy and flowers.

“They would be unwise to start a trade war.

“The UK can now rebuild import saving home production, replanting our orchards, building new glasshouses, catching our own fish, making more of our own cars.

“UK Consumers will buy more local items, the more the EU threatens us.”

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