UNITED
KINGDOM
Brexit: EU warns no renegotiation possible as UK
delays border checks again.
By Alice
Tidey with AP • Updated: 07/09/2021 - 08:57
Britain
announced on Monday that it is once again postponing the implementation of
border checks on goods travelling to Northern Ireland.
Brexit
Minister David Frost said the government would continue to trade “on the
current basis,” maintaining grace periods that the UK gave itself after
splitting from the EU’s economic embrace at the end of 2020. He did not set a
new end date for the grace periods.
Frost said the
standstill would “provide space for potential further discussions” with the EU
over the two sides’ deep differences on the Brexit divorce agreement.
London and
Brussels have been at loggerheads over the Northern Ireland Protocol since the
UK's divorce from the bloc came into force on January 1, 2021. The British
province remains within the EU's customs unions, meaning that checks must be
carried out on certain goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest
of the United Kingdom.
British
authorities — including Prime Minister Boris, who renegotiated the Withdrawal
Agreement after taking over from Theresa May in Downing Street — now lambasts
the arrangement as absurd as it effectively creates a border in the Irish Sea.
They have asked for a "total overhaul" of the agreement.
The EU,
which operates zero tariffs between member states, argues the checks are
necessary to safeguard its single market, remains steadfast that no physical
border be erected between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over
concerns that it could lead to a flare-up in sectarian violence.
But it has
granted a "grace period" over the implementation of the protocol and
agreed to extensions. A grace period on the exports of chilled meats between
Great Britain and Northern Ireland is to expire on September 30.
London has
in the past said it wanted the current arrangements to last until 2021 which
Brussels has refused, even launching legal proceedings against the UK over the
protocol before halting them in July in order to "find durable
solutions".
The
European Commission said on Monday evening that they "take note" of
the latest UK statement, flagging that "we will not agree to a
renegotiation of the Protocol."
"We
continue to stress that the Withdrawal Agreement is an international agreement.
The Protocol is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement and the agreed
solution between the UK and the EU to the problems caused by Brexit for the
island of Ireland. Both sides are legally bound to fulfil their obligations
under the Agreement," the statement from the Commission added.
Brussels
also said that it "reserves its rights in respect to infringement
proceedings" but that it is not, "at present", moving forward
with the next stage of the proceedings it halted in July or opening any new
infringements.
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