Irish PM: I regret the Northern Ireland Protocol

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he regretted the Northern Ireland Protocol, which regulates trade between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom after Brexit, and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member.

Varadkar, in statements to the BBC, made assessments of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which caused a conflict between the EU and the United Kingdom. Varadkar regretted that the protocol was implemented without the support of the nationalists and supporters of the unit.

Varadkar, who accused the Northern Ireland government of “dysfunction”, said that “the Northern Ireland Protocol was imposed just like Brexit was imposed without the support of all parties.” Varadkar noted that such a protocol is economically functional and stressed that the Northern Ireland economy has outperformed the UK economy.

Noting that the protocols weakened the unity between Northern Ireland and the UK, Varadkar stated that he hoped for a new deal between the EU and the UK.

NEW EU ACTION TO ENGLAND

The vice president of the EU Commission, Maros Sefcovic, announced that he decided to take legal action against the United Kingdom for not complying with important parts of the protocol.

Stating that they will move forward with the process of violating the law on shipping agricultural products to the UK, Sefcovic stated that if the UK does not respond in 2 months, they can take the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Sefcovic also pointed out that they initiated two new breaches of the law against England on the grounds that they did not provide enough staff and infrastructure at border checkpoints in Northern Ireland and did not provide the necessary trade statistical data to the EU.

The Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the Brexit deal, regulates trade between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, which is a member of the EU.
According to the protocol, despite Brexit, Northern Ireland remains subject to the rules of the EU customs union. Trade with the rest of the UK is subject to customs at Northern Ireland ports.

Under the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday Agreement), which ended the war between Catholic separatists and Protestants in favor of union with England, no physical land border can be created where checks can be carried out. Therefore, although it was decided to carry out the controls only at sea, there are problems in their implementation.

Britain wants the protocol extensively changed, which it argues threatens the country’s territorial integrity. The EU, on the other hand, does not take this kindly. (AA)