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The British government is planning legislation that could undermine key elements of last October’s Brexit withdrawal agreement. The move threatens to derail the current EU-UK trade negotiations, which resume in London on Tuesday.
Brexiters fear that the withdrawal agreement, which includes a protocol to avoid a return to a hard border in Northern Ireland, makes it impossible for the UK to be truly sovereign because it leaves London tethered to Brussels in key areas, including state aid and customs policy. In a sign of rising tensions between the two sides, David Frost, the UK chief negotiator, vowed over the weekend that the UK would not become a “client state” of the EU by agreeing a trade deal that included so-called “level playing field” clauses setting common rules and standards for both sides.
What does the UK government object to? Two key aspects of the revised protocol on Northern Ireland that UK prime minister Boris Johnson agreed with EU leaders last year. The first is Article 10, which says that EU law on state aid will apply to the UK in relation to the goods trade in Northern Ireland. This means the British government is obliged to notify Brussels of any state aid decision, including those that relate to businesses in Great Britain, that might affect businesses in the region — a potentially far-reaching obligation that Brexiters say is not compatible with fully reclaiming sovereignty.
The second is a requirement that Northern Irish businesses must complete export summary declarations when they send goods over to mainland Great Britain; Brexiters say this is not compatible with the promise that Northern Ireland will have “unfettered access” to the UK’s internal market....
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