Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
EU Commission calls on UK to ditch ideology over Northern Ireland protocol
Source: The Guardian
EU Commission calls on UK to ditch ideology over Northern Ireland protocol
Maroš Šefčovič says he is trying to iron out disruption to businesses caused by the protocol
Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent
@breeallegretti
Sun 30 May 2021 20.07 BST
A senior European Commission figure has defended the Northern Ireland protocol, calling on the UK government to ditch ideology in favour of pragmatism in order to transform problems arising from the Brexit deal.
Maroš Šefčovič said he was looking at “solutions” to iron out disruption to businesses caused by the protocol, a key part of the Brexit agreement designed to protect the bloc’s single market at its frontier with the UK on the island of Ireland, without a return to a hard border.
It means Northern Ireland has in effect stayed within the EU’s single market for goods, and a customs border was enforced on goods crossing the Irish sea. The resulting checks at the ports of Belfast and Larne have angered unionists and loyalists, who feel the region is being separated from the rest of the UK, and this anger has escalated into threats, violence and rioting.
Edwin Poots, who earlier this month succeeded Arlene Foster as the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, claimed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday that the EU Commission “don’t seem to care for the peace process in Northern Ireland and that really needs to change”.
The DUP is calling for the protocol to be scrapped, and Poots told Marr the checks were “doing demonstrable harm to every individual in Northern Ireland” and “having a devastating impact”, agreeing the violence could get worse as summer and the perennially tense marching season approaches.
-snip-
Maroš Šefčovič says he is trying to iron out disruption to businesses caused by the protocol
Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent
@breeallegretti
Sun 30 May 2021 20.07 BST
A senior European Commission figure has defended the Northern Ireland protocol, calling on the UK government to ditch ideology in favour of pragmatism in order to transform problems arising from the Brexit deal.
Maroš Šefčovič said he was looking at “solutions” to iron out disruption to businesses caused by the protocol, a key part of the Brexit agreement designed to protect the bloc’s single market at its frontier with the UK on the island of Ireland, without a return to a hard border.
It means Northern Ireland has in effect stayed within the EU’s single market for goods, and a customs border was enforced on goods crossing the Irish sea. The resulting checks at the ports of Belfast and Larne have angered unionists and loyalists, who feel the region is being separated from the rest of the UK, and this anger has escalated into threats, violence and rioting.
Edwin Poots, who earlier this month succeeded Arlene Foster as the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, claimed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday that the EU Commission “don’t seem to care for the peace process in Northern Ireland and that really needs to change”.
The DUP is calling for the protocol to be scrapped, and Poots told Marr the checks were “doing demonstrable harm to every individual in Northern Ireland” and “having a devastating impact”, agreeing the violence could get worse as summer and the perennially tense marching season approaches.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/30/eu-commission-uk-northern-ireland-protocol-brexit
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
