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UK threatens checks on EU fishing boats

The United Kingdom threatened on Friday to launch dispute settlement proceedings, and checks on EU fishing activity in its territorial waters, if France implements sanctions against Britain on November 2.

A British government spokesperson made the announcement after the country’s Brexit Minister David Frost met with European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in London. As well as the fishing dispute between Britain and France, the pair held talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The spokesperson explained that Frost had laid out Britain’s concerns about the “unjustified measures” announced by France earlier this week. These include fears that the measures will disrupt British fisheries and other trade, threaten energy supplies, and block further cooperation between Britain and the EU, Xinhua news agency reported.

Post-Brexit access to British waters has prompted tension between Britain and France. France seized a British trawler and gave a warning to another boat on Thursday morning, following threats of retaliatory measures against Britain’s fishing industry and other trade.

Although Britain-EU talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol have been constructive for the second week running, substantial differences remain between the two parties, the spokesperson said, adding, “The EU’s proposals represent a welcome step forward but do not free up goods movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the extent necessary for a durable solution.”

The two parties will meet again in Brussels next week.

fishing

Britain and the EU view changing the protocol as a long-term solution to post-Brexit trade disruption in Northern Ireland. Britain outlined its proposals in a government paper in July, which observers interpreted as a renegotiation of the protocol.

In response, the EU published its own package to facilitate the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, including cutting customs formalities, simplified certification, and an 80 percent reduction of checks on retail goods for Northern Ireland’s consumers.

It said it would guarantee an uninterrupted supply of medicine to the people of Northern Ireland, by changing EU rules.

However, the two sides remain poles apart on the more challenging issue of the oversight role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.

ALSO READ – UK calls in French envoy as fishing dispute deepens

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UK demands end to ECJ role in Brexit talks

After adopting the Protocol as part of its drawn-out divorce from the EU, Britain now says the agreement is no longer working in Northern Ireland’s interests…reports Asian Lite News.

Britain on Monday shot down reports that it might compromise on a future role for the EU’s top court in policing a contentious trade pact for Northern Ireland.

Ahead of a new round of talks on the vexed Northern Ireland Protocol starting Tuesday, Brexit minister David Frost said the UK was adamant in wanting to end the oversight role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

“We have to put in place arbitration arrangements that are balanced. We can’t have the courts of one of the parties settling disputes between us,” he told a committee of MPs.

“We’re not interested in arrangements which keep the court in by some other name, at one remove or in some other way,” Frost added.

“The most important principle is one of equality.”

After adopting the Protocol as part of its drawn-out divorce from the EU, Britain now says the agreement is no longer working in Northern Ireland’s interests.

It has taken particular issue with provisions allowing the ECJ the ultimate say in whether it is abiding with the terms, which are designed to prevent UK goods entering the EU single market via Ireland.

In the buildup to the latest talks in London, The Times and Financial Times newspapers have reported that Britain could settle for a Swiss-style arbitration panel with the EU that retains some ECJ involvement.

The EU says the ECJ must remain the final arbiter of its single market, but has offered compromise proposals as London threatens to abandon the Protocol altogether.

ECJ (Wikipedia)

The proposals include reduced customs checks and paperwork on British products intended for Northern Ireland, which pro-UK loyalists complain are driving a wedge between Belfast and London and building momentum for the republican push for a united Ireland.

Frost reiterated that a new agreement was needed in the coming weeks to avert UK threats of invoking Article 16 of the Protocol, which allows either side to suspend its application.

“Obviously if we conclude that it can’t be bridged in the real world, then we’re in a different situation,” he said, while stressing “we are trying everything, and exploring every avenue”.

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EU offers border ‘express lane’ to solve N. Ireland Brexit row

Designing the protocol was a major source of friction in Britain’s drawn-out divorce from the European Union after it voted to leave the bloc in 2016…reports Asian Lite News.

The UK has called for “intensive talks” with the European Union (EU) on the Northern Ireland Protocol after both sides offered their own proposals to amend it.

In its proposal package published earlier Wednesday, the EU proposed a type of “express lane” to facilitate the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, including cutting customs formalities and simplified certification and an 80 per cent reduction of the checks for more retail goods for the Northern Ireland’s consumers, reports Xinhua news agency.

“The EU have now published their proposals in response to those in our Command Paper. We are studying the detail and will of course look at them seriously and constructively,” a British government spokesperson said in a statement late Wednesday.

“The next step should be intensive talks on both our sets of proposals, rapidly conducted, to determine whether there is common ground to find a solution,” the spokesperson said.

The EU proposals came in response to a new legal text put forward by the UK’s Brexit Minister David Frost on Tuesday.

Frost said the protocol is the biggest source of mistrust between the UK and the EU and demands “significant change”.

Northern Ireland is at the centre of the post-Brexit trade dispute between Britain and the EU.

As part of the Brexit deal, the Protocol stipulates that Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market and customs union to avoid a hard border between the region and the Republic of Ireland.

However, this leads to a new “regulatory” border between Britain and Northern Ireland.

For months, the UK has complained the rigid operation of the protocol, part of the Brexit deal, is unacceptable because it has severely disrupted trade, affected consumers and contributed to political instability.

Business welcomes movement

Northern Irish business groups welcomed “signs of movement from both sides” after the European Commission on Wednesday put a package of measures to Britain that could ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland.

The measures are designed to ease customs controls, such as the clearance of meat, dairy and other food products and the flow of medicines to the British province from the British mainland that have been hindered by barriers introduced under the Northern Ireland protocol.

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READ MORE-UK shares new post-Brexit trade plan for North Ireland with EU

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‘EU-UK Ties At Crossroads’

European Commission’s Maros Sefcovic said the Northern Ireland protocol is a “cornerstone” of the Brexit deal, and called on the UK to respect its commitments, reports Asian Lite News

The relationship between the European Union (EU) and the UK is “at crossroads” amid the Northern Ireland row, warned Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of inter-institutional relations and foresight.

“We are at a crossroads, now we have a choice of which path to go down: either we are working together, with the UK abiding by its international obligations and engaging in a good faith. Or, the UK continues to take unilateral actions,” Sefcovic said at an event on Friday.

Sefcovic warned that a wrong choice could lead to a downward spiral, taking the attention of both parties away from what should be their main goal, building a strong strategic partnership, reports Xinua news agency.

Sefcovic was referring to the UK’s seemingly unwillingness “to find workable solutions” to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is aimed at implementing a soft border on the island of Ireland and preserve the peace induced by the Good Friday Agreement.

The protocol is a “cornerstone” of the Brexit deal, emphasised Sefcovic, calling on the UK to respect its commitments.

On June 9, officials from both sides held talks in London on the Northern Ireland Protocol ahead of the G7 Summit but produced no breakthroughs.

ALSO READ – UK calls EU view of Northern Ireland ‘offensive’

Tensions have been rising between the two sides on post-Brexit trade and a “grace period” for some border checks that will end at the end of this month.

According to reports, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said last week that the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol had been “very lopsided” and had had “real world effects” on the people.

UK

He called for the EU to show “a bit of respect”.

Meanwhile, Sefcovic on Friday estimated that the EU had already shown great understanding by turning their “rules upside down and inside out”, and that they are ready to go “beyond flexibility” to make things work.

The implementation of the protocol has already led to violence, as riots erupted in Belfast in April.

Loyalists and nationalists claimed that the trade agreement would create barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Under the Protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to apply EU customs rules at its ports, to allow goods to flow into the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.

Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of inter-institutional relations and foresight. (Photo: twitter@MarosSefcovic)

This is known as the Irish sea border, a new trade border between Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.

The Belfast Agreement, or the Good Friday Agreement, is a set of agreements signed between the British and Irish governments as well as the major political parties in Northern Ireland on Good Friday, April 10, 1998.

The deal, viewed as a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process, had helped end a period of conflict in the region.

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Lord Frost admits NI talks failing to make progress

According to Frost, who was the UK chief negotiator of the post-Brexit trade deal, the main difficulty is the way that the protocol is being operated, “which is not in our view consistent with the intentions of us as negotiators.”…reports Asian Lite News.

UK Brexit minister David Frost said on Wednesday that current talks with the European Union over the implementation of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol are making little progress, so London is keeping “all options on the table.”

“It’s just that we are not making much progress despite all the ideas that we have put in,” Frost told a parliamentary committee quizzing him about the fresh row between London and Brussels.

As part of the Brexit agreement, Northern Ireland remained in the European single market and customs unions after the United Kingdom left the bloc for good on December 31, 2020.

Although there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, all goods and animal-based products coming from the rest of the UK territories must be checked upon arrival to Northern Ireland to comply with the EU sanitary regulations, leading to delays in the arrival of products and protests from unionist loyal to London.

According to Frost, who was the UK chief negotiator of the post-Brexit trade deal, the main difficulty is the way that the protocol is being operated, “which is not in our view consistent with the intentions of us as negotiators.”

Asked if the government is considering to unilaterally scrap the agreement, he said that “all options are on the table,” but they would rather prefer to find a negotiated way forward whenever possible.

“The Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] has been very clear that all options are on the table. He has said several times we will do whatever is necessary, and that is the view that is held across Government because we are extremely concerned about the situation,” the minister stressed.

LONDON, Jan. 8, 2020 (Xinhua) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in London, Britain, Jan. 8, 2020. The European Union is ready to develop a new partnership unprecedented in scope with Britain, but it can never be the same as before after Brexit, visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said here Wednesday. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua/IANS)

The UK government is trying to push back the full implementation of checks on supermarket goods and parcels to prevent shortage of chilled meat products in the UK province due to delays caused by the customs checks and paperwork, but the EU claimed such move would undermine the protocol, and has threatened London with legal action.

The fresh row over the flow of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland dominated Johnson’s talks with EU leaders attending the last weekend’s Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, with the UK prime minister vowing to do “whatever it takes” to protect both the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the UK. (ANI/Sputnik)

ALSO READ-UK, Ireland agree to maintain smooth post-Brexit trade

READ MORE-BREXIT: France warns of retaliation

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France threatens retaliation if UK breaches Brexit deal

The British government has threatened to unilaterally extend again the customs “grace period”, which was set to end on June 30, to October on Irish Sea border checks, over which the EU has vowed retaliation…reports Asian Lite News.

The UK will face “retaliatory measures” if it refuses to respect engagements made regarding the Brexit deal, French Minister of State for European Affairs, Clement Beaune warned.

“(British Prime Minister) Boris Johnson thinks that you can sign deals with the Europeans, not respect them and Europe will not react. It is a test for Europe,” Xinhua news agency quoted Beaune as saying to the Europe 1 radio on Monday.

“I am telling the British people that commitments must be respected…and if not, we will take trade retaliatory measures.”

“We exclude nothing… We have enough to defend our interests, and we will do,” Beaume said when asked whether differences on the Northern Ireland Protocol, part of the Brexit deal, could evolve into a trade war between the European Union (EU) and Britain.

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, which came into force on January 1, 2021, food products from Britain to the EU will have to enter through new border control posts at Northern Ireland’s ports.

Northern Ireland, as part of the UK, will continue to apply EU customs rules at its ports, to allow goods to flow into the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, and the rest of the bloc.

Such an arrangement led to the so-called Irish Sea border, an informal term for the new trade border between Northern Ireland and the other parts of Britain.

The British government has threatened to unilaterally extend again the customs “grace period”, which was set to end on June 30, to October on Irish Sea border checks, over which the EU has vowed retaliation.

“When you leave the European Union, you necessarily have a number of barriers,” said Beaune.

“I cannot tell Europeans that the British, via Northern Ireland, could export to us without any control of the products.

“Boris Johnson wants there to be no border between Northern Ireland and Britain, and we want to say ‘you made the choice of Brexit, you can’t have the butter and the money for butter’,” he added.

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READ MORE-UK, Ireland agree to maintain smooth post-Brexit trade

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UK, Ireland agree to maintain smooth post-Brexit trade

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosts a bilateral at Chequers with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin agreed to maintain smooth trade between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, reports Asian Lite News

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin have agreed to work together to “maintain smooth trade” between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.

The agreement came during a meeting between the two leaders on Friday at Chequers, the country house of Johnson, reports Xinhua news agency.

“They agreed on the importance of working together to uphold the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and to maintain smooth trade between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland,” a statement from 10 Downing Street said.

Ireland
Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosts a bilateral at Chequers with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Taking to Twitter, Johnson said: “We are both committed to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and to addressing the legacy of the troubles to deliver a brighter future for everyone in Northern Ireland.”

Due to the post-Brexit trade deal, food products from Britain to the European Union (EU) will have to enter through new border control posts at Northern Ireland’s ports, as stated in the Northern Ireland protocol signed by London and Brussels in 2019.

Northern Ireland will continue to apply EU customs rules at its ports, to allow goods to flow into the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.

This is known as the Irish sea border, which is a new trade border between Northern Ireland and other parts of Britain.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosts a bilateral at Chequers with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Also on Friday, Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots was elected leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, a pro-British political party in the region.

Poots is reportedly seen by some commentators as more aggressive in his opposition to Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade barriers and more conservative on social issues than his opponent, Jeffrey Donaldson.

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UK mulls downsizing army

Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace

The decision aimed to reduce the size of the army from 76,500 to 72,500 by 2025…reports Asian Lite News

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said that the country is going to significantly reduce the number of its soldiers.

Addressing MPs on Monday, Wallace said he had decided to reduce the size of the army from 76,500 to 72,500 by 2025, reports dpa news agency.

The army’s “increased deployability” and “technological advantage” means a “greater effect can be delivered by fewer people”, he said.


British army(IANS)

“The army has not been at its established strength of 82,000 since the middle of last decade,” he told lawmakers.

“These changes will not require redundancies and we wish to build on the work already done on utilising our reserves to make sure the whole force is better integrated and more productive,” the Defence Secretary added.

Also read:UK economy shrank less than feared

The move is part of a larger repositioning of Britain’s defence strategy after leaving the European Union.

Last week, the government presented a plan it described as the “most radical reassessment of Britain’s place in the world since the end of the Cold War”.

Among other changes, the limit for nuclear warheads is to be increased from the current 225 to 260, instead of being reduced to 180 as planned.

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