Tweet

Tony Connelly

29 Oct, 10 tweets, 2 min read

@DavidGHFrost

UK statement on @DavidGHFrost @MarosSefcovic meeting…

[Note a new UK ask, this time on VAT…]

“Lord Frost and EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic met today in London to assess the latest state of play in our talks about the future of the Northern Ireland Protocol

2/ “The week's talks have been conducted in a constructive spirit. While there is some overlap between our positions on a subset of the issues, the gaps between us remain substantial.

3/ “As we have noted before, the EU's proposals represent a welcome step forward but do not free up goods movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the extent necessary for a durable solution.

4/ “Nor do they yet engage with the changes needed in other areas, such as subsidy policy, VAT, and governance of the Protocol, including the role of the Court of Justice.

5/ Our position remains that substantial changes to the Protocol will be needed if we are to find a sustainable solution that works in the best interests of Northern Ireland and supports the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

6/ “Lord Frost and the Vice President, and their teams, will meet again in Brussels next week.

7/ “Lord Frost also set out to the Vice President our concerns about the unjustified measures announced by France earlier this week to disrupt UK fisheries and wider trade, to threaten energy supplies, and to block further cooperation between the UK and the EU…

8/ “…for example on the Horizon research programme. Lord Frost made clear that, if these actions were implemented as planned on 2 November, they would put the European Union in breach of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

9/ “The govt is accordingly considering the possibility, in those circumstances, of launching dispute settlement proceedings under the TCA…

10/ “…and of other practical responses, including implementing rigorous enforcement processes and checks on EU fishing activity in UK territorial waters, within the terms of the TCA."

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More from @tconnellyRTE

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

29 Oct

BREAKING: The European Commission has told member states that the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the Northern Ireland Protocol is not up for discussion.

@rtenews

2/ In a paper circulated to member states, and seen by @rtenews the Commission states: “The EU was always clear in its intentions - it will not renegotiate the Protocol and the role of the Court of Justice is not up for discussion.”

3/ The document comes amid growing controversy over the UK government’s demands that the ECJ be removed from its oversight role within the Protocol.

Read 10 tweets

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

26 Oct

@alexhallhall

Some damning testimony from @alexhallhall, former Brexit counselor at the British Embassy in Washington who resigned in 2019 over having to perpetrate what she saw as increasing disingenuous UK lines on Brexit, esp on NI, once @BorisJohnson took over tnsr.org/2021/10/should…

2/ “They downplayed the increased friction that was likely for businesses trading between the United Kingdom and the E.U. countries, as well as third countries such as the United States.

3/ “But, most damagingly, the talking points also downplayed the consequences of Brexit for the delicate peace process in Northern Ireland, in which the United States was a core stakeholder, having helped to broker the Good Friday Agreement and supported it since then.

Read 7 tweets

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

22 Oct

After another round of technical talks between European Commission and UK officials in Brussels this week, here's a state of play on the NI Protocol talks:

2/ The European Commission has presented its package of easements and flexibilities, published on Wed last week, and the UK have been asking a lot of questions. The fact that both sides have devled into a lot of detail is seen (at least in Brussels) as positive

3/ The detail covers SPS (agrifood), medicines, customs, a role for NI institutions. Sources say the issue of the ECJ has not come up in technical talks so far

Read 9 tweets

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

22 Oct

@MichealMartinTD

The Taoiseach has defended the govt’s handling of the reopening of nightclubs and the wider hospitality sector. @MichealMartinTD said the govt had resisted the option of pausing the reopening of the sector, and had proceeded on the basis of advice from public health officials.

2/ “To be frank with you, COVID has created a situation, the situation has taken a turn for the worse. The government has responded to that and followed the advice of NPHET,” he told reporters in Brussels.

3/ “It's very straightforward. It's very difficult. It's very tough and challenging for all concerned. But the key point is the government decision facilitates a reopening within a certain restrictive environment because of COVID-19.”

Read 17 tweets

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

18 Oct

@DavidGHFrost

UK statement on @DavidGHFrost @MarosSefcovic meeting last Friday:

Lord Frost and EU Commission Vice President Šefčovič met on 15 October in Brussels for a discussion of the continuing difficulties in relation to the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland.

2/ They discussed the proposals published by the EU on 13 October. Lord Frost recognised the efforts Vice President Šefčovič had made in bringing these forward, and underlined that we would discuss them constructively and in a positive spirit.

3/ Lord Frost set out the UK position and reaffirmed the need for significant changes to the current arrangements, as set out in the 21 July Command Paper, including on governance.
Further talks will continue at official level in Brussels this week.

Read 4 tweets

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

13 Oct

U.K. govt response to EU proposals:

“The EU have now published their proposals in response to those in our Command Paper. We are studying the detail and will of course look at them seriously and constructively.

2/ "The next step should be intensive talks on both our sets of proposals, rapidly conducted, to determine whether there is common ground to find a solution.

3/ “Significant changes which tackle the fundamental issues at the heart of the Protocol, including governance, must be made if we are to agree a durable settlement which commands support in Northern Ireland.

Read 4 tweets

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