Britain, EU focus on right to review product movement in Brexit talks
Qatar Tribune
dpa London The EU insists it must have âan overviewâ of goods that could enter its single market amid calls for urgency about finding solutions to post-Br...
dpaLondon The EU insists it must have âan overviewâ of goods that could enter its single market amid calls for urgency about finding solutions to post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.Britain and the EU have been locked in tense negotiations about the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is designed to prevent checks along the Irish border, a situation both sides fear could destabilize the situation in Ireland.The British government has said this is causing extreme disruption to businesses and livelihoods in Northern Ireland, but the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement on how to proceed.Brexit Minister David Frost has warned that Britain will have to safeguard its position âin other waysâ if consensus cannot be found.Writing in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, he said: âThe current problems with the protocol go to the heart of our territorial integrity, of what it means to be one country and one market. They will not just disappear.âI still hope the EU can show the ambition needed to fix the problem by agreement. If they canât, of course we will have to safeguard our position in other ways.â However, EU lead Brexit negotiatior Maros Sefcovic said it was understandable for the EU to want oversight on goods which might enter its single market via Northern Ireland.Frost has proposed that goods which were not going to leave Northern Ireland could be treated in one way, while goods that may cross into the Republic of Ireland were handled differently.But Sefcovic told the Andrew Marr Show: âWould the UK accept not to have the overview of whatâs coming to the UK market? Would they accept it? I donât think so.âAnd you just simply have to understand that if something is coming to the EU single market that we have to have an overview.â He said the EU had already proposed âgestures and solutionsâ from their side, but added: âWe cannot undo the Brexit, especially the type as the UK has proposed it, negotiated it, and signed the agreement up on it with us.â Speculation has continued for months that the British government is preparing to trigger Article 16, which would suspend elements of the post-Brexit arrangements in place in Northern Ireland.And Sefcovic said he was doing âeverything possibleâ to avoid that.He said: âWe had a change of tone in the discussions over the last week, which I really appreciate.âAlso our discussion of these practical issues like for example medicines was more constructive than before.