THE UK/EU AGREEMENT ON NORTHERN IRELAND IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

This is what the British Brexit Minister, Lord Frost claims, he thinks that the Protocol on Northern Ireland, negotiated during Britain withdraws from the EU, as it is currently written and interpreted, is unlikely to be applied in the long term.

A visit to Northern Ireland, a meeting with business leaders from a different sector, including aerospace, food, retail and life sciences, an inspection to the border control post at Larne Harbour; this is the opportunity that the Johnson government’s Brexit Minister, Lord Frost, used to make a not so rosy horizon about future UK/EU relations even more uncertain. ” It’s clear from my visit that the protocol is presenting significant challenges for many in Northern Ireland. Businesses have gone to extraordinary efforts to make the current requirements work, but it is hard to see that the way the protocol is currently operating can be sustainable for long.”

The Protocol, agreed in October 2019 and amended in 2020, recognizes Northern Ireland as part of the customs territory of the United Kingdom, but subject to EU customs legislation. In order to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998, there is no land border between EIRE and Northern Ireland, but a border off the Irish Sea. Britain expects a    “pragmatic” solution from the EU, taking on the primary responsibility, together with the EIRE, to support the peace and prosperity of all in Northern Ireland.