Peace and stability in Northern Ireland have been difficult to achieve. The Belfast Good Friday Agreement is the foundation on which modern, prosperous Northern Ireland is built, marking the triumph of compromise and tolerance after decades of instability.
I remember growing up in Leeds in the 1980s and 1990s, a time when our school was one of many facing fears of bombs. I remember the heartbreaking attacks on civilians in Britain and Northern Ireland that happened too often. The transformation since then, sparked by the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, is a miracle.
Today, Northern Ireland plays a crucial role in our response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people are using our NLAW missiles, assembled in Belfast, to stop the advance of Russian tanks. They protect their skies with Starstreak missiles built in Belfast. The people of Northern Ireland have shown great generosity by opening their homes to those fleeing barbarism.
Northern Ireland is now a modern, thriving economy. Nobody wants to go back in time. The basis for successful power sharing remains strong. But the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement is under pressure.
Unfortunately, the institutions of power-sharing that are part of the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday) have not been fully operational since February. This is a direct consequence of the profound impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Companies continue to face significant costs and paperwork when moving goods to the UK due to full EU customs procedures, which are completely unsuitable for goods moving within a country, leading some to give up altogether.
Citizens in Northern Ireland cannot benefit from the same economic solutions as the rest of the United Kingdom. The rules on plant and animal products mean that producers face particularly severe restrictions on selling food in shops in Northern Ireland.
These problems fuel concerns in Northern Ireland that East-West relations have been disproportionately affected by the Protocol. All the countries in Northern Ireland agree on the need for change in view of the growing problems we are seeing with the current arrangements.
Without solving these fundamental problems, we will not be able to restore the executive branch and end the current stalemate, leaving Northern Ireland without institutions to provide services to local people.
That is why we need to make changes so that the Protocol achieves its main stated goal of protecting the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday), instead of undermining it, while avoiding a hard border, protecting the integrity of the UK and protecting the EU’s single market.
Our preference is to achieve an agreed result with the EU. I had six months of negotiations with my EU counterpart, Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. We are now approaching 18 months of negotiations, including a year of discussions led by my predecessor.
The United Kingdom has proposed a comprehensive solution to overcome the barriers created between Britain and Northern Ireland. Our solution will preserve Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market, ensure that there is no hard border and protect the EU’s single market.
This requires a change in the protocol itself, as its current composition prevents the application of this decision. But the EU’s mandate does not allow the protocol to be changed, and they have so far been reluctant to consider such a change.
From our discussions with the parties in Northern Ireland, it is clear that only the solutions we propose, which require a change in the Protocol, will make it possible to restore the executive branch.
We need a solution that can provide the widest possible inter-Community support for years to come. In the name of preserving the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday), we need to find a solution to the current situation. To this end, I have announced our intention to introduce legislation to make changes to the Protocol in the coming weeks.
In parallel with the introduction of the legislation, we will remain open to further talks with the EU if we can achieve the same result through a negotiated agreement.
This is not about scrapping the protocol, but about working. We will cement those parts that work while repairing those that are not: the movement of goods, regulation of goods, VAT, control of subsidies and management.
As the government of the whole of the United Kingdom, we have a responsibility to resolve this situation. We are clear that the EU will not be negatively affected – just as we have ensured that the EU’s single market is protected from the existence of the Protocol.
We need to restore the supremacy of the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday) in all its dimensions as a basis for restoring executive power. We will do this through technical measures designed to achieve the stated objectives of the Protocol, in line with the reality of Northern Ireland.
Our approach basically respects both unions: the United Kingdom and the EU. By taking the necessary steps to preserve peace and stability, we will live up to our commitments to all communities in Northern Ireland.
Add Comment