European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and UK Brexit Minister David Frost will meet again in London on Wednesday 9 June for the first ever meeting of the Partnership Council set up by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, followed by a further meeting of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee. The meetings come against a backdrop of renewed tensions, between problems of detention of EU citizens in the UK and calls from London to review the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.
Mr Frost set the tone on 6 June in an opinion piece in the Financial Times. In it, he denounced the EU’s “legal purism” on the Northern Ireland issue and expected difficult discussions on the protocol negotiated and signed by both parties in 2019. “When we agreed on this new protocol in 2019, we did so in order to abolish the old, disastrous ‘backstop’”, the minister explains. “It was a delicate balance, formed in a spirit of compromise. We expected to be able to operate it in a way which respected the sensitive politics in Northern Ireland”, Mr Frost continues. “As a result the balance we hoped for has not been found”, the minister said, explaining that the protocol is now causing “political turbulence” and having “real-world impacts on lives and livelihoods”.
“We underestimated the effect of the protocol on goods movements to Northern Ireland, with some suppliers in Great Britain simply not sending their products because of the time-consuming paperwork required”, the minister said, citing difficulties in sourcing medicines.
The EU, says Mr Frost, “needs a new playbook for dealing with neighbours, one that involves pragmatic solutions between friends, not the imposition of one side’s rules on the other and legal purism”.
The Commission had recently proposed to the UK government an alignment with EU rules, including a veterinary agreement on live animal control. But London rejected the offer. A Commission source reiterated this offer on Monday 7 June, saying that he did not understand why the UK was refusing this “temporary” agreement on veterinary controls, which would be subject to review.
The source warned that the Commission had no intention of amending the Northern Ireland Protocol and would continue to seek full implementation of its provisions by the UK. At the moment, London is “not honouring its obligations”, the source said, raising a confidence issue. The Commission warns that if London does not change its “confrontational trajectory”, it will see what tools it has to respond.
The Commission believes that London is failing in its obligations, for example by not allowing EU officials to check via access to computer databases whether the necessary checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are taking place. Traceability requirements on food products cannot be verified by the European side either, with the Commission noting a lack of personnel deployed for these controls.
On Wednesday, the European side will put solutions on the table, such as possible exemptions from the rules for guide dogs. It also recognises that there are difficulties with medicines and is therefore considering possibilities for having some tasks done in Britain. Solutions are also being considered for second-hand cars and VAT rules.
The Commission will also review the rights of EU citizens whose right to apply for permanent residence in the UK will expire on 30 June. It also wanted to return to the issue of fisheries and the recent problems encountered in Jersey with the allocation of fishing licences to European vessels, a problem which has not yet been resolved (see EUROPE 12714/8). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)