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Edwin Poots, the new leader of Northern Ireland’s largest political party, on Sunday accused the EU of treating the region as a political “game” as tensions between the UK and Brussels over enforcement continued. of post-Brexit trade rules.
Poots, who became the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, argued on Thursday that while in the past the European Commission had put its “heart and soul” into maintaining peace in the region, the “current batch” of commissioners showed little consideration for the process. peace in Northern Ireland.
The DUP leader came to power promising to take a tougher stance on the Northern Ireland protocol, which was agreed as part of the 2019 treaty guaranteeing Britain’s formal exit from the EU. It is designed to avoid a land border on the island of Ireland.
“The EU [is] trying to punish the UK and as a result Northern Ireland is being used as a game, ”he told the BBC The Andrew Marr show. “We are citizens of the UK, we were citizens of the European Union and we deserve to be treated with the same respect as everyone else.”
Poots, whose predecessor Arlene Foster was expelled in part because it was perceived as not harsh enough with the protocol, he said the UK government would have “grounds” to invoke a provision, known as Article 16, to suspend part of the agreement as “economic and social damage” “That he was causing was” very obvious. “
Article 16 allows either party to suspend parts of the agreement and can be activated if the EU or the UK believe the protocol is causing “economic, social or environmental difficulties”.
The DUP leader said the protocol, which requires the region to follow EU customs rules for goods, which require goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland to be subject to controls, has been “hugely harmful “and should be” abandoned “.
“We have violence on our streets in Northern Ireland which has not been the case for years and this is behind this protocol,” he said, adding that the EU was “playing fast”.
Companies in the region have complained about higher costs and additional paperwork involved in importing and exporting. The region also faces higher costs for medicines once the grace period for this sector expires in October.
Earlier this month, on his first official visit to Northern Ireland, Lord David Frost, Brexit’s Prime Minister on Brexit, met with businesses and community members in Northern Ireland and discussed issues ranging from from the complexity of paperwork and disruption to supply chains.
After the meeting, Frost warned that the protocol was “presenting significant challenges“, And argued that quick fixes were needed to” minimize the inconvenience to the daily lives of people in Northern Ireland “.
In response to Poots’ criticism, Maros Sefcovic, vice chairman of the commission, said he was “committed” to the Good Friday Agreement, which in 1998 ended 30 years of violent sectarian conflict. “We are really working very closely to make sure the protocol is transformed into an opportunity,” he told the BBC.
Sefcovic, the main reference in relations with Britain in the EU, said Brussels had been “working absolutely” to ensure the proper implementation of the protocol, adding that more cooperation was needed from the United Kingdom. United.
Unionists argue that the protocol violates the terms of the peace agreement by altering the status of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, which was enshrined in the GFA.
Friday, Sefcovic he said the Financial Times that frustration was mounting in Brussels over the UK’s refusal to fully implement itsBrexi obligations in Northern Ireland.
Sefcovic said the EU was working hard to resolve protocol-related irritants, ranging from barriers to the movement of guide dogs between Northern Ireland and Britain to issues related to steel tariffs, the tax on the added value of used cars and a more widespread problem food safety controls.
Still, “from the UK side we still don’t have the basic answers,” Sefcovic said.
The UK government said on Sunday that it remained focused on addressing the “significant challenges” created by the protocol.
Additional report by Javier Espinoza in Brussels
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