politics

Brexit: UK Urges EU to Consider Immediate Overhaul of Northern Ireland Protocol

PAUL FAITH | AFP | Getty Images
  • The British government's Brexit minister, Lord Frost, told Parliament on Wednesday that the agreement needs drastic changes and urged the EU to renegotiate, arguing that "we cannot go on as we are" given the "febrile political climate" in the region.
  • The Protocol helps prevent customs checks and an effective land border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU.

The U.K. has called for a complete overhaul of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a key tenet of the Brexit agreements that Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with the European Union in 2019.

The British government's Brexit minister, Lord Frost, told Parliament on Wednesday that the agreement needs drastic changes and urged the EU to renegotiate, arguing that "we cannot go on as we are" given the "febrile political climate" in the region.

The U.K. is seeking to eliminate most checks on goods traveling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In a call with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the way the protocol is currently operating in practice is causing "significant disruption" for the people of Northern Ireland.

A readout from 10 Downing Street said Johnson stressed that the EU "must show pragmatism and solutions needed to be found to address the serious challenges that have arisen with the Protocol."

The Protocol was agreed in Oct. 2019 as an accompaniment to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and underwent further negotiation in 2020. It helps prevent customs checks and an effective land border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU.

The preservation of frictionless trade between the two islands is central to the Good Friday Agreement, a historic truce which brought an end to three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland between Irish separatists and British loyalists.

However, it has led to port inspections on goods traveling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a development that has angered businesses and drawn criticism for effectively creating a border in the Irish Sea. Prior to winning the U.K. election in 2019, Johnson had promised that there would be unfettered trade access between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.

In his address on Wednesday, Frost said there was a "growing sense in Northern Ireland we have not found the right balance, seen in an ongoing febrile political climate, protests and regrettable instances of occasional disorder."

Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said Wednesday's proposals would simply be the latest in a "tedious and interminable" tit-for-tat between the U.K. and the EU.

"Both sides will be very dramatic. As the drama is more a signal of the poor state of U.K.-EU relations than a catalyst for immediate disruption, markets are unlikely to react," he said.

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