Britain on Wednesday demanded a new deal to oversee post-Brexit trade involving Northern Ireland and warned the European Union that London would be justified in unilaterally deviating from a deal it struck with the bloc just last year, APA reports citing Reuters.
The Northern Ireland protocol was agreed by Britain and the European Union as part of a 2020 Brexit deal, finally sealed four years after British voters backed the divorce in a referendum.
It sought to get round the biggest conundrum of the divorce: how to protect the EU's single market but also avoid land borders between the British province and the Irish Republic, the presence of which politicians on all sides fear could fuel violence largely ended by a 1998 U.S.-brokered peace accord.
The protocol essentially required checks on goods between the British mainland and Northern Ireland, but these have proved burdensome to business and an anathema to "unionists" who are fiercely supportive of the province remaining part of the United Kingdom.
"We cannot go on as we are," Brexit minister David Frost told parliament.
He said there was justification for invoking Article 16 of the protocol which allowed either side to take unilateral action to dispense with its terms if there was an unexpected negative effect arising from the agreement.
"It is clear that the circumstances exist to justify the use of Article 16. Nevertheless ... we have concluded that is not the right moment to do so.
"We see an opportunity to proceed differently, to find a new path to seek to agree with the EU through negotiations, a new balance in our arrangements covering Northern Ireland, to the benefit of all."
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
