UK defies EU by scrapping Northern Ireland post-Brexit trade rules
- PM Boris Johnson described the changes as ‘relatively trivial’, even as Ireland called the move a ‘new low’
- The UK has long threatened to rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was meant to prevent a back door for British goods to enter the EU’s vast single market.
Britain published plans on Monday to override some of the post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland by scrapping checks and challenging the role played by the European Union’s court in a new clash with Brussels.
Despite Ireland describing the move as a “new low” and Brussels talking of damaged trust, Britain pressed ahead with what Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested were “relatively trivial” steps to improve trade and simplify bureaucracy.
Tensions have been simmering for months after Britain accused the bloc of taking a heavy-handed approach to the movement of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland – checks needed to keep an open border with EU-member Ireland.
Always the toughest part of the Brexit deal, the situation in the region has sent alarm bells ringing in European capitals and Washington, and among business leaders. It has also heightened political tensions, with pro-British communities saying their place in the United Kingdom is being eroded.
“I’m very willing to negotiate with the EU, but they do have to be willing to change the terms of this agreement which are causing these very severe problems in Northern Ireland,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.