Northern Irish businesses will almost certainly lose access to the EU’s single market if Boris Johnson’s legislation to tear up much of the Northern Ireland Protocol becomes law, the EU vice-president has said , Maroš Šefčovič.
In a lengthy interview with the Belfast Telegraph, the former diplomat spoke with restraint and avoided many sensitive questions, but made it clear that the main economic benefit of the protocol could be lost if Boris Johnson does not back down.
The interview was suggested by Mr. Šefčovič. He was also the one who, unlike most politicians, suggested it should be a long 45 minutes – an indication that the EU belatedly realized it needed to do more to explain its position directly to the people of Northern Ireland. North.
When asked if the Prime Minister’s bill to roll back much of the protocol could result in the loss of access to the single market for local businesses, Mr has to say one thing. As you have no doubt seen, we are very proportionate in our response, very measured, because we want to keep the doors open, we want to negotiate, we want to find a common solution.
“If the bill is approved as written, of course, nothing is ruled out. All options are on the table.
However, later in the interview, Mr Šefčovič was more explicit. Asked about the possibility of the EU accepting the deletion of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from the protocol, he said: “The European Court of Justice is there to rule on European law and the rules of the single market.
“This is the sole jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice vis-à-vis Northern Ireland. What I can tell you with 100% certainty is that I cannot imagine Northern Ireland having access to the single market without respecting the fact that the European Court of Justice is the final arbiter for the adoption of decisions on how EU law and single market rules are applied.
Presenting the ECJ as a protector of the rights of Northern Irish businesses, he referred to the work of the European Commission last year to ensure that European ports gave full access to Northern Irish goods, adding: “If we hadn’t succeeded and if the North Irish businessman needed protection to have his rights respected in the single market, there is no arbitration that can solve the problem — it’s only the European Court of Justice”.
He said the CJEU “will always speak out to protect the rights of business people coming from Northern Ireland”. [who] place their goods on the single European market”.
When asked if it was simply possible to have access to the single market without the ECJ, Mr Šefčovič underlined: “it is not us who are proposing this measure and jeopardizing the access of the EU. ‘Northern Ireland to the Single Market’.
Mr Šefčovič said he had “never heard this as a real concern from stakeholders in Northern Ireland”.
However, a poll for Queen’s University shows that 45% of people are concerned about the role of the ECJ – a figure that almost exactly matches the total trade unionist vote.
Earlier this week, the Irish Independent reported that the EU had blacklisted goods that would face tariffs in a trade war if Mr Johnson’s legislation becomes law.
Citing unnamed Brussels officials, the newspaper said items such as Scotch whiskey and the transport of car components to and from the English Midlands and North would be chosen with the aim of injuring Mr Johnson in areas where his party made gains in the 2019 general election. election.
Asked about this, Mr. Šefčovič did not deny that such a course was planned. He said: “I wouldn’t speculate on retaliation because you know we’re not here to threaten everyone.
“But the reality is that the bill as presented was so unacceptable that of course, if it is approved as is, we cannot rule out any action.”
Mr Šefčovič said Michael Gove – then the government’s protocol minister – had asked in 2020 for “certain transition periods” before the protocol came into force.
Mr Šefčovič’s reference to this decision on ‘transition’ points compares to what other EU figures said was their clear understanding at the time: that the government accepted the full sea border of Ireland, but that time would be given to local businesses either to get accustomed to the new bureaucracy or to find other suppliers within the EU.
Mr. Šefčovič said: “We discussed the time [was needed] for such and such a measure to be put in place. We agreed on how to go further.
Last year the government introduced unilateral grace periods which meant huge parts of the protocol weren’t enforced – everything from UK plants and chilled meats that would be banned under the protocol , to delays in new rules that had not been implemented.
Several business figures have said that these grace periods are the only reason the protocol can still work, and they have become popular even with many companies that support the protocol.
However, this week Brussels relaunched its legal action against the UK over grace periods, trying to force them to end it.
When asked if he wanted the grace periods to end, Mr Šefčovič did not say so directly, but described them as “illegal” and claimed that the EU’s offer to the Kingdom Kingdom would be better for business than grace periods.
Mr Šefčovič denied it was contradictory for the EU to promise it would get rid of much of the bureaucracy while going to court to restore the bureaucracy. He said he had asked EU members to agree that the legal action during the grace periods should be “put in the freezer” to try to negotiate a solution, but now faced a “super unilateral action” and was compelled to act. .
The EU has now largely removed the drugs from the protocol – which Mr Šefčovič personally led.
Asked if it was a mistake to put drugs in the protocol and consider an Irish Sea drug border, he sought to share blame with Mr Johnson, saying they didn’t put anything in the document that the government didn’t agree to and that was important to protect public health.
Dermot Johnson, the managing director of Johnson’s Coffee in Lisburn, spoke about the scale of the bureaucracy he faces.
The pro-EU businessman, who voted to Remain in the referendum and backs the protocol, said he had tried to order 28 cases of crisps recently, only to have the English manufacturer refuse to sell them to him because the The beef flavor contained a product of animal origin, which meant that the supplier would have had to call a veterinarian to complete an export health certificate, as well as customs formalities.
When asked if this is really necessary to protect the EU single market, Mr Šefčovič said: “I think it is important to say that we have technical solutions to all these problems, but for solving such a comprehensive problem not only requires technical solutions, which we constantly bring to the table, you also need political will.
“The political will to seek technical solutions together is not there, if I speak of the government in London.”
Mr Šefčovič did not accept that the fact that the EU now declares that it is ready to dispense with whole swathes of protocol bureaucracy means that it was never necessary in the first place to protect its single market .
He said the protocol “was considered the best possible [deal]” at the time.
“We thought, ‘this is what the UK government wants, this is what we need’,” he said, pointing out that for the first time the EU had outsourced border control to a country outside the EU.
He accused the UK of having “wasted a year” by not negotiating seriously with the EU – which the UK says would be pointless because Mr Šefčovič’s mandate from member states does not allow him to modify the protocol.
The EU vice-president said: “I thought we would now focus on the opportunities, on the new investments coming into Northern Ireland.”
He said “many companies” from the EU, Canada and the US had told him they would like to invest in Northern Ireland “because it’s a unique place in the world – they really have the best of both worlds” but that they needed certainty before finalizing the decision.