The debate on the controversial bill was opened in the House of Commons by Foreign Minister Liz Trass.
London: Thanasis Gavos
The debate on the controversial bill of the British government, which allows its unilateral amendment, started in the afternoon in the House of Commons. Northern Ireland Protocol which is part of its agreement Brexit.
The discussion was opened by Foreign Minister Liz Trass, who said that bill resolve the problems created by the Protocol in trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, while protecting peace agreement of Good Friday.
He defended the unilateral nature of the British move, arguing that the EU had ruled out reasonable changes to the Protocol. He stressed that the bill is “Both legal and necessary”.
The legitimacy of the forthcoming unilateral amendments to the Protocol has, however, been questioned by Europeans. THE EU Earlier today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, Michal Martin, had expressed concern about the tendency towards unilateral action by the United Kingdom.
“Any unilateral decision to violate international law is an extremely serious development”warned Mr. Martin.
He was essentially responding to a morning statement by British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in which he said he had not seen any reaction from the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and the EU who were with him in Bavaria.
In the same statements, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom stated that he considers that the legislative process regarding the new bill can be completed within the year. He spoke of trying to achieve a balance that would satisfy all parties in Northern Ireland and of “unnecessary” barriers to trade that could be removed with the amendments without undermining the European single market.
Among other things, the bill provides for the abolition of controls on products from Great Britain intended to remain in Northern Ireland and not to pass through the Republic of Ireland, ie within EU territory.
Those controls at sea in Ireland imposed by the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol and, according to the Conservatives in London and the Unionists in Belfast, undermine the integrity of the United Kingdom.
The bill It also allows companies in Northern Ireland to produce and sell products that do not comply with current or future EU regulations.
It envisages limiting the role of the European Court of Justice to trade disputes relating to the Protocol and the possibility of changing VAT in Northern Ireland to bring it into line with that imposed in the rest of the United Kingdom.
However, the bill leaves a window for an agreement with the EU on a mutual amendment of the Protocol, which will take precedence over the new law. In fact, the changes will not take effect automatically with the approval of the bill by the British Parliament, but implementation provisions must be preceded by the competent ministers.
The first ballot, before the bill is reduced to House of Lordswill be held tonight in the House of Commons at the end of the debate.
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