British government publishes legislation to override elements of Northern Ireland Protocol

The British government claim the changes are designed to protect all three strands of the Good Friday Agreement despite widespread opposition to the unilateral decision to override the protocol by the majority of Northern Ireland’s MLAs and business groups.

The British government has published new legislation which would override key elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol, including bypassing the European Court of Justice.

The new legislation, tabled by British foreign secretary Liz Truss, enables the government to bring forward four key factors overriding the international treaty. They are:

• 1. Green and red channels which they say will remove unnecessary costs and paperwork for businesses trading within Britain, while ensuring full checks are done for goods entering the EU.
• 2. Businesses to have the choice of placing goods on the market in Northern Ireland according to either British or EU goods rules, to ensure that Northern Ireland consumers are not prevented from buying British standard goods, including as British and EU regulations diverge over time.
• 3. Ensure NI can benefit from the same tax breaks and spending policies as the rest of the Britian, including VAT cuts on energy-saving materials and Covid recovery loans.
• 4. Change arrangements so that disputes are resolved by independent arbitration and not by the European Court of Justice.

The British government claim the changes are designed to protect all three strands of the Good Friday Agreement despite widespread opposition to the unilateral decision to override the protocol by the majority of Northern Ireland’s MLAs and business groups.

It added the moves “will provide robust safeguards” for the EU Single Market, underpinned by a Trusted Trader scheme and real-time data sharing to give the EU confidence that goods intended for Northern Ireland are not entering its market. The legislation also ensures goods moving between Britain and the EU are subject to EU checks and customs controls.

Liz Truss said: “This Bill will uphold the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and support political stability in Northern Ireland. It will end the untenable situation where people in Northern Ireland are treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, protect the supremacy of our courts and our territorial integrity.

“This is a reasonable, practical solution to the problems facing Northern Ireland. It will safeguard the EU Single Market and ensure there is no hard border on the island of Ireland. 

“We are ready to deliver this through talks with the EU. But we can only make progress through negotiations if the EU are willing to change the Protocol itself – at the moment they aren’t. 

“In the meantime, the serious situation in Northern Ireland means we cannot afford to allow the situation to drift.” 

The legislation has been tabled by British foreign secretary Liz Truss. 

Despite reports, there will be a sunset clause that would see all EU regulation dissolved as regards Northern Ireland after a certain length of time if there was no agreement, this is not written into the legislation. There are provisions that ensure that as circumstances change, that there is the potential to adapt, if necessary, however. 

In discussions between October and March, the negotiating teams in Brussels and London held more than 300 hours of official and ministerial discussions to no avail.

The situation in Northern Ireland is also being used as a reason behind the legislation with the British believing the Stormont stalemate needs to be fixed urgently as the DUP refuses to nominate a deputy first minister while issues with the protocol remain, meaning Stormont cannot sit.

The bill will remove the jurisdiction of the ECJ in terms of domestic law operations and protocols, meaning dispute settlement provisions that would otherwise have meant infraction proceedings can be brought and given effect domestically will be addressed by British courts, who will have the final say over those arrangements.

The bill includes a mechanism whereby matters can be referred to ECJ for an opinion, however.

A British government statement said it “has become clear the EU proposals don’t address the core problems created by the protocol. They would be worse than the status quo, requiring more paperwork and checks than today. The EU has said they will not allow changes to the Protocol within its current negotiating mandate.” 

The British government has said the legislation is necessary and lawful. 

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney rejected Boris Johnson’s summation that the bill was “not a big deal” and hinted there would be retaliatory measures from Brussels.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald called the legislation an “astonishing act”.

“An astonishing act by any British government and by any standards and more importantly, it reflects again that this government, Boris Johnson's government, has no regard for Ireland [and] very little regard for the Good Friday Agreement. 

“In fact, they've consistently taken actions that undermine and cause problems for that historic arrangement. 

"We currently in the north of Ireland have no executive, no government, and Boris Johnson has been hand in glove with the DUP, the Democratic Unionist Party, in holding society essentially to ransom with no government in the teeth of a cost of living crisis.”