EU will cut NI trade checks to bare minimum

Posted By: June 17, 2022

IRISH CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING

Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus 

EU will cut NI trade checks to bare minimum – Šefčovič

 By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith. RTE. Dublin. Friday, June 17, 2022.

The European Union is prepared to cut checks and controls “to the absolute bare minimum” if British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agrees to engage with it on the Northern Ireland Protocol, its chief Brexit negotiator has said.

In an exclusive RTÉ interview to be aired on this evening’s Six One News, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said the EU has a “very clear” plan on what can be done as an alternative to the “constant uncertainty” of UK plans to scrap the protocol.

Last week, the UK government tabled a new Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which if implemented would see large sections of the protocol removed.

The UK government has argued the existing protocol is convoluted and means businesses sending products from Britain to Northern Ireland must go through hundreds of pages of checks and controls paperwork.

But the EU has rejected the claim and is taking legal action against the UK over the plans to breach the internationally recognized protocol deal.

Asked about the situation, Mr. Šefčovič said the EU is willing to cut checks to “the bare minimum” if the UK is willing to engage on the issue.

“We are not only talking about cutting more than 80% of the SPS checks and more than 50% of customs procedures, we have a very clear recipe on how to do it.

“I was showing the press conference our two and a half page long SPS certificate, so not 30 not 300 pages as it was represented by some in London – two and a half pages.

“And that would be for one lorry and it could be done just once per month.

“So this is really the minimum bureaucracy and we are really to push the checks and controls to the absolute bare minimum,” he told RTÉ News.

I hope that companies know what we’re offering, which is really joint creative solution how to give Northern Ireland the best of two worlds.

Mr. Šefčovič also said farmers and businesses in Northern Ireland should consider the solution the EU is offering and compare it to the proposed legislation being tabled by the UK.

He said the EU plan would benefit people in Northern Ireland, whereas the UK bill would result in “constant uncertainty” with farmers potentially being asked to produce two different types of milk for the EU and UK markets.

“The stakeholders in Northern Ireland, if they look at the [UK] bill, what it represents is constant uncertainty, any minister on a whim can change the rules.

“You will have to put up by the pile of bureaucracy with a dual regulatory regime.

“I was asking my UK counterparts how can you explain to the farmer to produce two kinds of milk, one for the EU one for the UK? Can you tell to any assembly manager that you can put in two different production lines?

“So I hope that companies know what we’re offering, which is really joint creative solution how to give Northern Ireland the best of two worlds, compared to this mounting bureaucracy and this constant uncertainty [in the UK bill],” he said.

Council of Europe writes to UK over legislation

The Council of Europe has released a set of detailed questions it has sent the British government on it’s Troubles legacy legislation.

The 46-nation Council of Europe has sent a list of detailed questions to the UK authorities asking how proposals contained in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation Bill) will comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The questions were sent by the Council of Europe’s Director General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Christos Giakoumopoulos, in a letter to the UK’s Northern Secretary, Brandon Lewis.

Many of the questions relate to the independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.