Boris Johnson has been warned by his Irish counterpart that abandoning the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland would be a “historic low”, citing the outbreak of war in Ukraine as a reason to respect the law. international.
Waiting for Downing Street to file a controversial draft law that will overturn key parts of the withdrawal agreement next week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the move would be “deeply damaging.”
Martin suggested in an address to the European Parliament on Wednesday morning that by ignoring its obligations under international law, the British government would make the world less secure, and said Johnson should not “lightly treat” the peace won. strongly on the island of Ireland.
“It would mark a historic low point, indicating a disregard for the essential principles of the laws, which are the basis of international relations,” Martin said of the UK Prime Minister’s plans. “And it would literally benefit anyone. Without a spirit of collaboration, there would have been no peace process in Northern Ireland.
“Without confidence, without commitment, without the will to see things from the point of view of others, there would have been no Good Friday agreement, no quarter of a century of peace in Northern Ireland in which young people could grow up and grow up. to flourish like themselves …
“What has been so hard to win when we look across our continent, while seeing what is at stake when the rule of law is threatened, is for all of us to work together and keep what we have agreed.”
Despite the suspicions of many of his MPs, the Prime Minister is expected to move forward next week with draft legislation exempting food and goods entering Northern Ireland from EU controls agreed by the government in the Brexit agreement. The decision would be welcomed by many members of Johnson’s Brexit party, after a difficult week in which his term as prime minister has been severely weakened by a split vote.
However, the proposed legislation could also turn out to be the first of many turning points with the 148 rebel MPs making up 41% of Conservative MPs wanting him to resign.
On Monday, Conservative MP Jesse Norman, a former finance minister, said in a letter explaining his reasons for voting against Johnson that breaching the Northern Ireland protocol would be “economically very damaging, politically reckless and almost certainly · Legal “.
The government, echoing the complaints of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which refuses to support power-sharing institutions over the protocol, said the current agreements undermined the Good Friday agreement by erecting barriers to trade between Britain and Northern Ireland. .
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The European Commission has tried to allay these concerns with a series of proposals that would reduce the level of paperwork faced by traders, but after an initially warm response, British ministers have insisted that deeper renegotiation is needed.
Martin told MEPs: “It’s perfectly reasonable to look for ways to improve the way the protocol works. Unfortunately, what we’ve seen is bad faith efforts to undermine a freely signed treaty instead of trying to create a constructive atmosphere for everyone to In fact, we’ve seen efforts to block agreements or introduce new issues …
“I have said many times that there are solutions to the practical problems of the protocol if there is the political will to find them. But that requires association. It requires the UK government to commit to good faith, seriousness and commitment. “
Once the bill is tabled, it will take many months to go through parliament, during which the UK and the committee’s negotiating teams are expected to continue their talks.