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A UK HOUSE of Lords committee has found that both the United Kingdom and the European Union have taken a “fundamentally flawed” approach to finding solutions to the problems created by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The freshly released report notes that first Brexit and then the Protocol have once again brought borders and questions of identity in Northern Ireland to the fore.
The committee found that a lack of clarity, transparency and readiness on the part of the UK and a lack of balance, understanding and flexibility on the part of the EU have prevented the two sides from finding a way out of the impasse.
“The clear message from our report and the evidence we have heard is that both the UK and the EU need to compromise in the interests of Northern Ireland,” the committee note.
That won’t be easy, but it is an absolute necessity that the UK and the EU should now work together urgently to identify solutions if Northern Ireland is not to become a permanent casualty of the Brexit process.
The report adds that there has been a serious deterioration in relations between London, Belfast, Dublin and Brussels.
Another of the report’s key findings was that trade between Britain and Northern Ireland has been significantly disrupted by the administrative costs to businesses of compliance with the Protocol.
This has created a risk that British businesses will withdraw from the Northern Ireland market.
The report noted particularly serious concerns about the impact on supply of medicines and medical products to Northern Ireland if steps are not taken to mitigate the situation.
The committee also found that there are also potential economic opportunities for Northern Ireland, in the form of dual access to UK and EU markets, North-South trade and foreign direct investment.
It added that a veterinary agreement on UK agri-food goods entering the single market would be one of the single most significant measures to unravel the problems with the Protocol.
The committee said that a failure to find a compromise in this area would demonstrate that Northern Ireland’s political and economic stability is a lower priority for both the UK and the EU than maintaining their respective red lines.
“The tensions over the Protocol currently seem insoluble. Yet that was also true of the political situation during the Troubles,” the chairman of the Protocol committee, Lord Jay of Ewelme, said.
“But the peace process ultimately took root and flourished, through a process of time, patience, dialogue, and most of all trust. Those same qualities are now needed to address the problems that Brexit and the Protocol present,” he added.
Earlier this week, the European Commission paused its legal action against the UK over the implementation of the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, in the hope that solutions to outstanding issues can be found.
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The irony of it , this situation caused in a big part by the stances taken by the DUP over the past few years ie backing brexit not backing May & then backing Borris. Keep it up yer playing a stormer !!!!
But how can the EU deal with Boris? , he’s not a serious politician and can’t be trusted to stick to any agreement.
We are supposed to view the English ‘House of Lords’ as impartial commentators? FFS.
@John Kinsella: I believe the majority in the House of Lords were very much against Brexit. Amazing as it sounds, I’d trust their opinion to be more honest than the current British Government.
@John Kinsella: they have actually been the most honest, thoughtful and forthright in dealing with the brexit issue, compared to the house of commons.. , suppose it helps when u don’t need to be elected, or have to suck up Doris…
Nothing will happen until the next British govt rejoins the customs union in a few decades time, or Ireland becomes united, whichever happens first.
A truly United Ireland is the only solution
@Tom McHale: unfortunately Unionists are not interested in exactly the same way that Irish people are not interested in joining UK.
The problem didn’t exist before brexit. Brexit caused the problem. They should have looked deeper into brexit before creating the problem rather than try to make it work by having to have the EU change rules of international trade, which will be a huge mountain to climb and could potentially cause ripples throughout the world in terms of trade agreements.
The EU and the UK negotiated and put in place the protocol. Input from the Irish Government was a fairly important aspect of its adaption. Any right minded person would now agree that the out-workings of this arrangement are injurious to the economoic and political stability of the North.
There needs to be a concerted effort now to put in place a set of remedies that make trade flows easier (within the UK) and get greater buy in on the political front. The EU is a beaucratic institution. It will find it very hard to to adapt a set of rules that can accomadate the complexity of the region but it must try.The UK goverment needs to work much harder to find a solution and in the interim stop its arrogant ranting about the agreement they signed a year and a half ago.
It really come down to the fact that Brexit means either a harder border on our Ireland or a weakening of ties between NI and mainland Britain. The EU rightly has to protect its border and we all know how porous the border here is. The DUP see Brexit as a way of rolling back the softening of the border since the GFA which has always been their agenda. The alternative is going to mean a slow but continued move towards a united Ireland. As this report says, there are now more opportunities for economic development in NI so why all the shouting? We have plenty of sausages he ‘re if they are short of a few up north!
I don’t think a lordship is in any way a guarantee of an educated being who understands critical thinking.
Tell me what PHDs the Lords have collectively and I’ll tell you if they can come to sensible and permanent solutions.
@Margaret Doyle: @Margaret Doyle: To an extent, The Lords are less swayed by the current political situation in the UK, they are not up for re-election so they are in a position to push back against the current government.
The main issue, as I would see it, is that the EU were never going to give the UK an easy ride of things to prevent others thinking they can drop out of the EU with no consequence, but the majority of the imposition that has been imposed on the UK has landed at NI’s doorstep.
There is a lot of hard feelings from NI as they didn’t want Brexit but seems to have shouldered the majority of the hardship. Would see their position as their own government has left them to it and the EU/Irish has imposed these hardships and the entrenched sectarianism causes loyalists to blame republicans and visa versa as proxies for the UK & Ireland.
Both sides need to sit down and take the ridiculous mantra of “NI cant be treated differently from the rest of the UK” off the table. There needs to be a solution found to make sure that NI are taking their share of the pain of Brexit but only their share not the majority
@Margaret Doyle: your post is more elitist than the house of lords
The House of Lords….an unelected body! Brexiteers don’t really understand how things work…..
Nothing new in that report.
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