According to the EU and the UK (Kirsty O`Connor/PA), an „agreement in principle“ has been reached on the aspects of Brexit in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Protocol replaces the current plan, the so-called „backstop“ Plan, negotiated by former British Prime Minister Theresa May. The border is a sensitive issue because of the history of Northern Ireland and peace evacuation agreements, including the elimination of visible signs of the border. The protocol was also rejected by the Ulster Unionist Party[51] and the Traditional Unionist Voice. [52] The „backstop“ should have kept Northern Ireland in certain aspects of the internal market until an alternative agreement between the EU and the UK was concluded. The proposal also provided that the UK as a whole would have a common customs territory with the EU until a solution was found to avoid the need for customs controls in the UK (between Northern Ireland and Great Britain). The „backstop“ element was that if the UK and the EU did not agree on another agreement, for example on a trade agreement between the UK and the EU at the end of the transition period, the agreement could continue to apply indefinitely. In addition, paragraph 50 stressed that there would be no new controls on goods and services to be transferred from Northern Ireland to Britain. In 2018, point 50 of the final eu withdrawal agreement was omitted on the grounds that it was an internal matter in the UK. The final withdrawal agreement for 2018 was originally approved by the British Prime Minister (Theresa May), but the DUP (whose minority government depended on confidence and supply support) vetoed a parliamentary vote in January 2019. [26] The protocol stipulates that companies that relocate goods from Northern Ireland to Britain must complete export declaration forms. In October 2019, the new Johnson government renegotiated the project and replaced the backstop. Under the new protocol, the whole of the UK leaves the EU customs union as a single customs territory.
Northern Ireland will be included in the UK`s future trade agreements, but will not have tariffs or restrictions on goods crossing the Irish border in both directions, creating a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea with Britain. There is also a unilateral exit mechanism for the Northern Ireland Assembly to leave the protocol by a simple majority. [1] [2] [3] This new protocol has been described as „Chequers for Northern Ireland“ by some, as it is comparable to the British plan for future relations of Theresa May`s Chequers, previously rejected by the EU and criticised by Johnson. [3] The Irish government and the northern Irish nationalists (favourable to a united Ireland) supported the protocol, while the Unionists (who preferred the United Kingdom) opposed it. In early 2019, the Westminster Parliament voted three times against ratifying the withdrawal agreement, rejecting the backstop. On 14 November 2018, after a five-hour cabinet meeting, Prime Minister May announced that her cabinet had approved a draft withdrawal agreement with the EU. [27] [28] [29] [30] On the same day, The government has published information on the UK`s withdrawal agreement from Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and said: that negotiations on future relations between the UK and the EU are under way and that the (binding) withdrawal agreement will not be signed without an agreed (non-binding) political declaration on future relations, „on the basis that nothing will be agreed until everything is agreed.“ [31] The protocol is due to come into force on 1 January 2021, the first day of new EU-UK relations.
