Europe: Is the new post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland reliable?

Admittedly, the resistance of the British and the unionists of the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) to apply the protocol on Northern Ireland paid off. “London and Belfast have obtained major flexibilities, never imagined before, comments Georg Riekeles, one of the negotiators at the time of Michel Barnier. So it’s not just about smart communication. This rewrites Brexit history. »

The European Union (EU) agrees to let its guard down and trust the British. Northern Ireland still has the particularity of belonging both to the European single market – with its own rules – and to being part of the British market – which will evolve differently. Dubbed the “Windsor framework”, the new agreement reached on Monday February 27 introduces the idea that British products intended for the Northern Irish market alone will be labeled differently from those intended to enter, via Northern Ireland, to the rest from Europe.

Simple labeling? In return, the EU ensures real-time access to the computer system and databases of British customs. We expand the number of “trusted operators” who will not have to redo all the steps each time. Enough to reduce identity checks at the end of the process to only 5%. We facilitate freight, we exempt from customs formalities the shipment of parcels. All drugs will be available at the same time in the UK and Northern Ireland.

This is intended to combine that UK public health standards will apply to retail agri-food products intended for final consumption in Northern Ireland, while EU plant and animal health standards will remain applicable for market protection unique to the EU.

The new approach is based on foreseeable risk. Pets – possibly carriers of viruses – will be able to move more easily between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. A simple travel document, a microchip and a statement from the owner that the pet will not be traveling to the EU will suffice. Again, a lot is about trust. On the other hand, the EU has stood its ground on one principle: ultimately, the EU Court of Justice remains the only one to interpret European law and the “level playing field” must be ensured on State aid and VAT.

The big novelty of the device is the “Stormont brake”. The Northern Irish Parliament in Stormont will be able to suspend European directives which would substantially change daily life. If it is actuated at the request of 30 of the 90 MPs who sit in Stormont’s Parliament, then the British government would have a veto. A device that goes much further than what had so far been provided for in the Northern Irish protocol where the Assembly of Stormont had a right of approval every four or eight years.

It is then a bulk approval, take it or leave it. Here, with the “Stormont Brake”, there is a form of case-by-case choice…”Even though it is not a ‘pick and choose’ mechanism, it is a very real possibility of veto, directive by directive”, analyzes Georg Riekeles. In return, if the “Stormont brake” is activated, the EU will have the option of suspending all facilities. An extreme situation that everyone, today, wants to avoid…

The Brexit story is not quite over. While Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen have agreed on the outlines of the “Windsor Framework”, it still has to go through further stages of validation. First, the Council of the EU must approve the amendments to the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, which must then be ratified by the Joint Committee.

The EU has also committed to unilateral legislative amendments which will have to go through the ordinary procedure, therefore with the consent of the European Parliament and the Council. It is only ever the third negotiation of the Northern Irish protocol. There was Theresa May’s, erased by Boris Johnson’s version, now rewritten by Rishi Sunak. Hopefully the third is the right one.