The EU will take a carrot-and-stick approach to Boris Johnson’s plan to unilaterally rewrite the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, taking legal action against the United Kingdom while proposing new grounds for negotiations.
Maros Shefcovic, Brexit’s EU commissioner, on Wednesday will signal widespread outrage among member states, particularly in Dublin, since the prime minister’s approach to Northern Ireland following the introduction of new legislation on Monday.
As a first step, the EU will resume frozen lawsuits over past failures by the UK government to carry out checks on goods coming from Britain to Northern Ireland, and the bloc will also launch two more for lack of data exchange and border checkpoints.
The nuclear threat to suspend parts of the broader trade agreement could also be met in time if the enacted legislation goes into law, a process that is likely to take up to 18 months as the bill moves through the municipality and lords.
However, Shefchovich remains determined to offer the Johnson government a way to step down, despite the outrage now felt in Brussels and Dublin by the UK government’s actions.
Speaking to reporters in the Belgian capital on Wednesday to explain the EU’s next steps, Shefchovich will take a closer look at the bloc’s flexibility with regard to customs and agricultural controls on goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain.
Sources said the proposals made last year would be further developed and that the EU believes a negotiated solution remains possible.
Johnson’s claims that his proposed legislation is “trivial” and justified by international law, given the “need” to deal with the serious danger of unrest in Northern Ireland, are considered unsustainable in Brussels, raising doubts about whether the United the kingdom will maintain its position.
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Under new legislation introduced on Monday, which is likely to face significant opposition in parliament, the government will lift checks on companies selling goods from the UK destined for Northern Ireland, not the EU.
Instead, the government plans to create a “green ribbon” with fewer checks on goods selling to Northern Ireland and a “red ribbon” with existing checks on goods destined for EU countries.
It will also allow UK companies exporting to Northern Ireland to choose between complying with EU or UK regulatory standards, which are expected to diverge.
Further measures include aligning Northern Ireland’s tax breaks and spending policies with the rest of the UK and changing the supervision of commercial disputes so that they are decided by independent arbitration and not by the European Court of Justice – a clause, imposed by conservative Eurosceptics.
Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts said Johnson’s words could no longer be trusted.
“We are always ready to negotiate, but if there is one country that takes repeated and unilateral action, it is the British government,” he said. “Boris Johnson has a long history of saying the exact opposite of what he does.
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