Brexit: UK reneging on Northern Ireland pledges risks trade deals with US and EU

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Brexit: UK reneging on Northern Ireland pledges risks trade deals with US and EU

Concerns raised after reports negotiating team told to devise plans to ‘get around’ protocol in withdrawal agreement

Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent
@lisaocarroll
Sun 23 Feb 2020 12.58 GMT
Last modified on Sun 23 Feb 2020 20.18 GMT

Reneging on the special Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland will risk trade deals with both the EU and the US, experts have warned.

Concern has been raised after Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiating team has reportedly been ordered to come up with plans to “get around” the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement, which includes checks on goods and food going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Former Irish ambassador to the EU Bobby McDonagh said reneging on it would have serious consequences, including posing a risk to a future deal with Washington, where there is considerable support for Ireland.

“If UK gov were to renege on its legal obligations under Brexit withdrawal agreement to protect Good Friday agreement, it would have many consequences. One would be the end of any prospect of a UK-US trade deal,” he said in a tweet.

Link to tweet

And Catherine Barnard, professor of EU law at Cambridge University, said there would be immediate consequences if the UK did not show good faith both legally and reputationally. “If we renege on the terms of the withdrawal agreement, that will trigger the dispute resolution arrangements in the withdrawal agreement.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/23/brexit-uk-reneging-on-northern-ireland-pledges-risks-trade-deals-with-us-and-eu

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. Well, that's not going to go over well.

[Sherman A1]

2. Hopefully this will lead to a

unification of Ireland.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. That would be a miracle. But I don't see it happening.

[RockRaven]

4. My understanding is that the Good Friday Agreement contains a guarantee of

Northern Ireland's right to decide via referendum, if they so choose, to reunite with the Republic.

Whether the Brexit fall-out will cause them to choose to do so is unknown to me. But it seems there is a pre-set legal/political pathway to accomplish it if wanted.