Brexit: Northern Ireland Protocol ‘dead in the water’, says Johnson ally
The post-Brexit Northern Ireland treaty is reportedly seen as “dead in the water” by Downing Street as negotiations between the UK and EU over the protocol continue.
Lord David Frost earlier this week said the Northern Ireland Protocol, which sees Northern Ireland follow EU customs union and single market rules, posed “significant challenges” for businesses, while urging the EU to act with “common sense” when applying it.
Frost is locked in discussions with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic on how to apply the protocol, after Brussels launched legal action against the UK over the full implementation of the treaty.
The protocol has been met with fury by some parts of the unionist community for creating a so-called border in the Irish sea, which sees Northern Ireland treated differently to the rest of the UK.
A source close to Johnson told the Sunday Telegraph today that the protocol would not remain in its current form and that the EU has two months to sort it out.
“The marching season is a date whereby you would want to have a material improvement in what is happening,” they said.
“We need a bit of movement by then because that is when we risk seeing the kind of disruption and the protests that we had recently.”
Under the protocol, there will need to be customs checks on things like food, parcels and medicines going between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UK moved two months ago to unilaterally postpone these checks until October, which infuriated Brussels officials as they labelled it a breach of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
Frost argued at the time that it was necessary to ensure Northern Ireland businesses were prepared for the changes and so there would not be shortages of goods, however the EU responded by launching legal action.
The protocol, combined with Brussels’ quickly overturned move in January to break the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, has sparked growing anger in Northern Ireland unionist communities.