EU still hellbent on carving up UK! Fury at ECJ ultimatum as Sefcovic shamed

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Ex-First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster has demanded the European Union respect Northern Ireland and move forward to solve the protocol crisis as she demanded the protocol is scrapped and slammed the bloc for their behaviour over the past months.

Ms Foster told Robert Peston that despite the apparent shift in progress to solve the protocol crisis, there are many issues within the European Union's proposals for a renegotiating the deal and demanded it is scrapped altogether.

She insisted the bloc need to show respect for Northern Irish sovereignty with their decision making as she warned of a backlash against bloc's continued efforts to limit Northern Ireland's future outside the EU.

Laura Huhtasaari, 42, an MEP for the right-wing Finns Party in Brussels, has taken to social media to vent her frustrations with the European Union.

Ms Huhtasaari, who previously held a seat for Finland's second-largest party in Helsinki, launched a furious tirade against the bloc on Monday and claimed further Brexit-style exits were bound to happen.

The Finnish MEP posted on Twitter: "The issue of China and Russia is not EU-critical, but federalist.

"Federalism caused Brexit and will also cause new exits.

"The EU could do a great job as a trade union of independent states, a bend for the greedy and power-hungry is not enough."

Spain has rejected an important number of residency applications from Britons who were planning to move there.

But why are applications being denied?

Many Britons wish to retire in the Mediterranean country, looking for sun, warm weather and delicious food. This year, however, many UK nationals who applied for the Spanish residency under the Withdrawal Agreement had their applications rejected.

Many even received notices saying they had to leave the country within 15 days or they could be classified as illegal.

Why?

Currently, there are is 381,400 Britons living in Spain.

Ex-Conservative MP Anna Soubry is back in court - but not because of Brexit.

The 64-year-old, who defected to Change UK in 2019, has said she has picked up her wig and will return to her previous profession, as a barrister.

She wrote on social media yesterday: "I’ve returned to the criminal bar and my former chambers.

"You may think this says a great deal about the state of the Criminal Justice System.

"It’s a pleasure to be back working with some of the finest people I’ve ever had the privilege to call colleagues."

Russia has denied weaponizing energy and intentionally withholding supplies as prices surge across Europe.

Bleating Europhiles claim Brexit has caused the UK's supply chain crisis.

But today, a picture showing container ships queue up at America's two largest ports has been jumped on by Brexiteers.

They claim that the global supply chain crisis is a direct result of the Covid pandemic and the subsequent relaxing of lockdown restrictions.

After months of inactivity, firms and governments across the planet have struggled to grapple with a huge spike in demand caused by the easing of lockdown measures.

Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, told the Telegraph: “This is not a Brexit issue - rather than the haulage problem - and it’s unfair to say that border controls resulting from leaving the EU are a cause of this.”

Jacob Young, 28, told Express.co.uk: 

"When anybody tells me that levelling up is just a slogan, I tell them to come to Teesside and see what it looks like in action.

"Under Conservative leadership, we're creating the UK's largest freeport, attracting the new green industries like GE Renewables that will bring tens of thousands of new, highly-paying jobs to the area."

He added: "Voters in the region know exactly what levelling-up means - the transformation of Teeside is there for all to see. That is why 73 percent of Teessider's re-elected Ben Houchen as their regional mayor."

However, when pushed on why the polls suggest Conservative Party support in the Red Wall has been eroded, the Redcar MP said the Government's attempts to respond to COVID-19 ensured voters had become "somewhat fatigued".

The Irish premier has described the EU's proposals to tackle issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol as "the obvious way forward".

Measures have been announced by European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic aimed at tackling disruption caused by the protocol.

They are expected to bring an 80% reduction in checks for retail agri-food products arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the proposals were "the obvious way forward and the obvious way out of the issues".

He said: "I trust that it will now be the subject of serious engagement with the British Government and form the basis of a jointly agreed solution to those challenges."

"Such an outcome is very much in the interests of both the EU and the UK, but most especially of the people and businesses in Northern Ireland."

Ursula von der Leyen's EU is yet to grasp the fundamental significance of the key Brexit sticking point preventing the UK and the bloc from looking to the future, more than five months since the 2016 referendum, a Tory MP has warned.

And Matt Vickers, who won the Red Wall seat of Stockton South in 2019, has told the EU until it acknowledges the truth about the Northern Ireland Protocol, true progress will be impossible, stressing: “It’s time to get moving.”

Mr Vickers was speaking after European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, the bloc’s Brexit point man, unveiled several key concessions during a press conference in Brussels including an 80 percent reduction in checks and regulations on all retail goods travelling into Northern Ireland.

However, Mr Sefcovic also dismissed opposite number Lord David Frost’s demand that the bloc removes the role of the European Court of Justice when it comes to the Protocol, in accordance with which Northern Ireland effectively remains in the EU’s single market for goods.

The Government has said "intensive talks" should follow the European Commission's proposals to change the Northern Ireland Protocol.

A Government spokesperson said: "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.

"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.

"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.

"We need to find a solution which all sides can get behind for the future, which safeguards the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, and which puts the UK-EU relationship on a stronger footing. We are ready to work hard with this in mind."

Emmanuel Macron's closest aide has been brilliantly silenced in three simple words by a leading Frexiteer after claiming: "Being in the EU is a sovereign choice of the French people."

French Europe minister Clement Beaune, an extremely prominent EU supporter and vocal critic of Brexit Britain and its departure from bloc, reacted furiously to a Twitter post from Arnaud Montebourg.

Former Minister of the Economy, Industrial Renewal and Digital Affairs Mr Montebourg, who himself was succeeded in the role by Mr Macron in August 2014, declared his candidacy for the 2022 French presidential election.

He had tweeted: "The Constitution must recall that when the national interest requires it, national laws must take precedence over European decisions."

Maros Sefcovic's wide-ranging concessions in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol have made a "mockery" of Brussels' insistence that the rules were "set in stone", a pro-Brexit campaigner has said.

However, Jayne Adye, the director of Get Britain Out, has welcomed the European Commissioner’s apparent climbdown - while warning Brexit minister Lord David Frost he cannot afford to give an inch to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the weeks to come.

Mr Sefcovic outlined his proposals in Brussels on Wednesday, which include reducing the number of customs checks by 50 percent, and an 80 percent cut on checks and regulations on all retail goods travelling into Northern Ireland.

However, crucially he dismissed calls by Lord Frost to remove the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in adjudicating disputes with respect to the Protocol, a mechanism for preventing a hard border on the Ireland of Ireland which critics say has instead resulted in a border down the Irish Sea.

Lord Frost has vowed to enter "intensive talks" with the EU on Brexit after Brussels presented its Northern Ireland Protocol plans, in a bid to prevent trigger Article 16.

The Brexit minister is preparing to engage in a series of crunch negotiations with the bloc to try and find a solution to the problems caused by the Protocol.

If no agreement can be found, Lord Frost is ready to take the "nuclear option" by triggering Article 16 and suspending the mechanism introduced as part of the 2019 Withdrawal Agreement.

European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic is planning to head to London for talks first thing tomorrow morning.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has described new proposals from the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol as a "starting point".

European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic unveiled a series of proposals aimed at slashing the red tape burden on Irish Sea trade created by the post-Brexit settlement.

The measures are to bring about an 80% reduction in checks envisaged for retail agri-food products arriving in the region from Great Britain.

However Sir Jeffrey said that on first inspection they would appear to "fall far short of the fundamental change needed".

Remoaners continually bleating that Brexit has caused the UK supply chain crisis have had their argument shut down with one picture.

Anti-Brexiteers have made much ammunition out of shortages on everything from fuel to foodstuffs that has hit much of Britain since it left the single market.

They claim that the two are directly linked and the problem can easily be resolved by rejoining the bloc.

But today, a picture showing huge queues of container ships at America's two largest ports has been jumped on by Brexiteers.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill was asked by reporters at Stormont whether the proposals from the EU represent a victory for the DUP.

She said: "Brexit is the problem and the protocol is a solution, the protocol remains today, we have always said there needed to be flexibility inbuilt into that protocol to make it work, that was what Maros Sefcovic committed to when he met business and civic leaders here back in September and he's true to his word today, he has delivered upon what he listened to and I think that's crucially important.

"So I think now is the time for clarity, time for certainty. That's what the business community here want.

"It's been far too long with so much uncertainty."

Louise Haigh MP, Labour's Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, said:

“These proposals look to be a serious step in the right direction in addressing the practical concerns of businesses and communities on the ground.

“It is clear that with political will there is a landing ground - now is the time for the EU, UK and representatives from Northern Ireland to get around the table and reach the agreement communities need.

“The last thing the UK needs with a cost of living crisis and rising tension in Northern Ireland is another poisonous stand-off and the prospect of a damaging trade war.

“Jobs, stability and livelihoods depend on a resolution in the coming weeks."

Sir John Redwood, also a member of the ECJ, told Express.co.uk: "The EU has moved but not enough.

"The UK must insist on no EU checks or interference in GB/NI trade with the UK policing No onward movement of such goods into the EU.

"The EU still wants to annex Northern Ireland, control its laws and put it under the ECJ."

Reacting to Mr Sefcovic's remarks, David Jones MP, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) told Express.co.uk: "The statement is a step in the right direction.

"However, even with the facilitations proposed, Northern Ireland businesses would still be left with burdensome paperwork simply in order to buy goods from another part of their own country. There is therefore clearly more work to do."

He added: "The solution to the problem would be a scheme of mutual enforcement, as suggested by the Centre for Brexit Policy last month. "The EU will also have to understand that the role of the European Court if Justice will have to disappear. It is unacceptable that UK businesses should be subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign court. "It is progress, however, and demonstrates that the EU will show flexibility if confronted with the sort of determination shown by Lord Frost."

The bloc may hate it, but once again Lord Frost's threat to go for the nuclear option has worked.

In 2019 when Boris Johnson made clear the Northern Ireland backstop needed to be renegotiated or he would walk away with no deal, Brussels caved. They again gave key concessions in trade talks last year when a similar strategy was deployed.

Now, the threat of triggering Article 16 to suspend aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol has yielded results.

The EU's proposals may not have gone far enough for the UK's liking, but it's a considerable shift in position.

READ MORE

Northern Ireland cannot have accesss to the EU's single market without being under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, said Mr Sefcovic.

Speaking in Brussels, he said: "We have invested so much effort negotiating the withdrawal agreement.

"In the end we found the solution which we agreed. We did it because I believe we share the same goals of prosperity, stability and peace on the island of Ireland."

He added: "I hope that we share the same goal of making sure the businesses and people of Northern Ireland benefits from the dual market.

"You cannot have access to the single market with the jurisdiction of the ECJ."

The EU says its proposals on customs will halve the volume of paperwork needed on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This will be achieved by expanding the number of businesses and products covered by trusted trader arrangements and a concept that differentiates between goods destined for Northern Ireland and those "at risk" of onward transportation into the Irish Republic, or elsewhere in the EU.

Those products deemed "not at risk" would not be subject to customs duties.

The arrangements were originally only envisaged for NI-based manufacturers with a low turnover.

Under the EU proposals they will be extended to include manufacturers with higher turnovers and GB suppliers.

Another practical consequence will mean companies dealing in NI-destined products will only need to submit basic customs information, such as a copy of an invoice, rather than comprehensive EU customs code data sets that would otherwise have been required.

The EU says the combination of the SPS and customs proposals will effectively create an "express lane" to help facilitate the movements of GB goods whose end destination is Northern Ireland.

Maros Sefcovic has announced an 80 percent reduction in checks and regulations for all retail goods travelling into Northern Ireland.

The requirement to submit documentary information online ahead of shipping the goods will remain, but the EU said it envisages an 80 percent reduction in both identity checks on lorries arriving at ports and the more intensive physical inspections of their contents.

The EU is also proposing a significant reduction in certification requirements on multi-product consignments.

Under the protocol, lorries bringing agri-food products into the region are required to have vet-approved export-health certificates for each different product line on the vehicle.

A grace period exemption means this requirement has yet to be applied.

The EU intends to pass legislation that will enable trade of medicines between GB and NI to continue.

Under the protocol, this supply chain would have been severely disrupted when an ongoing grace period lapses, as Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK are in different regulatory zones for pharmaceuticals.

The EU law change would allow GB-based pharma suppliers to maintain their current regulatory arrangements.

It would mean companies in GB could continue to act as a hub for the supply of generic medicines to NI, without the need to establish bases in the region.

The EU has said the medicines supply chain issue is not confined to Northern Ireland and applies to other small markets, including the Irish Republic, Malta and Cyprus.

The steps being suggested would guarantee pharmaceutical supply chains to all of those markets.

Maros Sefcovic has begun speaking in Brussels - claiming the bloc has "gone beyond current EU law" by proposing an "alternative model".

He claimed the bloc had "completely turned ourselves upside down and inside out" in a bid to find solution to the current gridlock.

Maros Sefcovic will reveal the EU proposals to address practical difficulties around the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol cover four specific areas.

There is a paper dedicated to each area.

The areas are agri-food goods, customs, movement of medicines and engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders.

Combined, the EU claims the proposals amount to a "different model'' for operating the post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Ed Miliband, Labour's shadow business secretary, said people would be "scratching their heads" at the UK government's latest move.

Mr Miliband said: "This was an agreement signed by Boris Johnson, he said it was a fantastic triumph, it was all going to be fine - and now they want to rip up their own protocol."

Referring to the prime minister's past claim that his deal was "oven-ready", Mr Miliband instead described it as "half-baked".

With European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic poised to speak on the issue, EU proposals on Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol are expected to slash red tape on Irish Sea trade but fall short of a UK demand on axing the role of European judges.

Mr Sefcovic will unveil a series of measures early on Wednesday evening aimed at addressing issues around customs paperwork and the movement of agri-food goods and medicines between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Mr Sefcovic, who has promised the proposals will be "very far reaching", has also pledged to offer more of a consultative role for politicians and civic society in Northern Ireland on how the contentious trading arrangements operate.

The EU plan is expected to significantly reduce the volume of paperwork and checks required under the protocol on goods being shipped into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

Issues around looming bans on the import of some GB products into Northern Ireland, such as chilled meats, are also set to be addressed in the proposals.

While the range of measures will potentially go some way to reducing everyday friction on trade caused by the protocol, they are unlikely to satisfy a UK Government demand over the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

BBC's Adam Fleming broke down Brexit Minister Lord Frost's demands to the European Union for changes to the Brexit protocol.

Adam Fleming has warned of a “major confrontation” between the UK and the EU over the next few weeks, saying “we're in for another couple of weeks, maybe a month of quite intense negotiations” over the Brexit protocol.

It came after Brexit minister Lord Frost began a new round of talks with Brussels over changes to the existing Northern Ireland protocol, which has been put in place to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Fleming said: “Under the Northern Ireland bit of the Brexit deal known as the protocol, some EU law relating to goods, plant and animal products, and medicines, still applies in Northern Ireland, even after Brexit has happened."

The BBC's Katya Adler has pulled the rug from under the European Union, after questioning why it took so long for them to present plans to remove the majority of post-Brexit checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland.

BBC Europe Editor Ms Adler took to Twitter this afternoon to question the EU’s role in presenting proposals to considerably reduce checks on goods, animal produce and plants between Britain and Northern Ireland.

The suggested scheme from the EU will see up to 50 percent of customs checks on goods being lifted.

She wrote: “If EU now presenting proposals to considerably reduce checks on goods, animal produce and plants travelling from GB to N Ireland - why have they waited this long to take this action, easing life in post Brexit NIreland you might ask?”

Ireland's foreign minister has called for both sides to move away from red lines today. 

Speaking to RTE, he said: "There's been a lot of rancor a lot of standoffs, a lot of red lines, you know a lot of cliff edges in relation to the negotiations around Brexit and the protocol.

"We need to try to move away from that type of negotiation now."

According to the managing director of the Eurasia Group and former Treasury civil servant, Mujtaba Rahman, the EU has too many priorities to renegotiate the Brexit deal. 

He warned the French election next year, the current German coalition formation, clashes with Poland and Hungary, energy prices and fiscal integrity beyond 2023 remain the main priorities for the bloc. 

Emmanuel Macron is falling into the UK's plans for an all-out trade war to finally renegotiate the Northern Ireland protocol and take away from the supply chain issues in the country, it has been claimed.

Due to the high tensions between the UK and France, some commentators have warned a trade clash between the two may now be inevitable.

Amid the threats to energy supplies, fishing licences, blockades of Channel ports and fury over the AUKUS trade alliance, relations with France have hit a low point between the two countries.

With the UK eager to amend parts of the Brexit deal, namely the Northern Ireland Protocol, John Lichfield, claimed the Prime Minister wants a clash with France.

Writing for Politico, the poltical commentator claimed a cross-Channel clash with the French may also be perfect in distracting Britons from the supply chain issues in the country.

Commenting on the current tensions over the Brexit deal, John Hardy, Head of FX Strategy at Saxo Markets, claimed "accidents may yet happen" between the UK and EU. 

He said: "The latest twist in the never-ending Brexit story is the ongoing situation in the customs arrangement for Northern Ireland, where the situation on the ground means little interruption of trade and the softest of customs borders on the island but a de facto customs border in the Irish sea.

"The UK is drawing up red lines on the issue and France is in a fighting mood over fishing rights, so accidents may yet happen."

Ireland's deputy premier said states should be careful when entering agreements with the UK. 

After Dominic Cummings claimed the UK always planned to ditch the Northern Ireland protocol, Mr Varadkar told RTE Morning Ireland: "I saw those comments; I hope Dominic Cummings is speaking for himself and not for the British Government.

"At the moment they're going around the world, they're trying to negotiate new trade agreements... Surely the message must go out to all countries around the world that this is a British Government that doesn't necessarily keep its word and doesn't necessarily honour the agreements it makes.

"And you shouldn't make any agreements with them until such time as you're confident that they keep their promises, and honour things, for example, like the protocol."

Boris Johnson never understood what his Withdrawal Agreement with the EU really meant, his former chief adviser has said.

During the election campaign, Mr Johnson repeatedly boasted that the "divorce" settlement he had negotiated with Brussels - including the Northern Ireland Protocol - was a "great" deal that was "oven ready" to be signed.

Mr Cummings said: "What I've said does NOT mean 'the PM was lying in General Election 2019', he never had a scooby-doo what the deal he signed meant.

"He never understood what leaving Customs Union meant until November 2020."

MEP Nathalie Loiseau told the BBC's Today programme: "I'm comfortable with the fact that the (European) Commission is looking to go the extra mile, and fix the problems and try to find a solution within the protocol.

"I think pragmatism and good will is really on the EU's side and I sincerely hope that the (British) posturing of denying the benefits of the protocol (ends), because there are many benefits of the protocol.

"What can we think of David Frost negotiating the protocol, signing the protocol and pushing hard for the British Parliament to ratify the protocol if now he says that he doesn't agree with the protocol? That's a big problem.

 "This is not accurate. It took months and there was another offer on the table when Theresa May was prime minister which was called the British backstop, the Irish backstop at that time.

"It was rejected by some members of the Tory party and then we came to the Irish protocol but not in 14 hours, it took months to negotiate it, and it was the very same person, Lord Frost, who says he doesn't agree with the protocol."

The role of the European Court of Justice is a "major issue for the UK", Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden has said. 

He told Sky News: "It is clear that in Northern Ireland and particularly in one community in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Protocol is not working and one of the challenges of that is the fact that the treaty is governed by the court of one of the signatories, so I think we do also need to engage on that more fundamental issue.

"There are many, many international treaties that have independent courts and arbitration mechanisms for them that don't belong to one party or the other and I think it's appropriate that we should engage with the EU to see how we can resolve that.

"Because in the end I think the UK and the EU, we surely are united in the same position which is that we want to maintain a stability in Northern Ireland, we want to ensure the continuity of the Belfast Agreement and all other progress that we've made and there is a problem with this Protocol at the moment."

Dominic Cummings has claimed that the Government "intended to get Boris Johnson to ditch bits" of the Brexit deal "after whacking Corbyn".

In a series of tweets posted last night, the former Downing Street and Vote Leave adviser said they “wriggled through with the best option we could” and “prioritised” getting a Brexit deal.

He said he “always intended an Internal Markets Bill after we won a majority to tidy things up”.

The Internal Markets Bill was passed in December 2020 to ensure smooth trade between the four nations of the United Kingdom – including Northern Ireland.

Some clauses, specifically relating to trade with Northern Ireland, broke international law “in a very specific and limited way”, causing consternation within the EU.

France and other EU countries are reluctant to back down on their threats to retaliate against the UK over post-Brexit trade issues.

The EU Commission will today unveil a package of measures to ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland, while stopping short of the overhaul London is demanding of post-Brexit trading rules for the province.

The EU executive's measures are designed to ease customs controls, such as the clearance of meat, dairy and other food products and the flow of medicines.

Lord Frost claimed there is little risk to any of the UK's proposals regarding the Northern Ireland protocol. 

In his speech on Tuesday, he said: "What does it cost the EU to put a new protocol in place? As it seems to us, very little.

“There is no threat to the single market from what we are proposing. We are not asking to change arrangements within the EU in any way.

"We are not seeking to generalise special rules for Northern Ireland to any other aspect of our relationship.

“For the EU now to say that the protocol - drawn up in extreme haste in a time of great uncertainty - can never be improved upon, when it is so self-evidently causing such significant problems, would be a historic misjudgement.”

After tense negotiations within Brussels, the EU finally agreed to back down over its demands concerning chilled meat products. 

On Wednesday evening, vice-president of the Commission Maros Sefcovic will present new measures allowing products such as British sausages to enter Northern Ireland without being checked.

The move was signed off on Monday but left "blood on the floor" of the bloc, Playbook reports.

Mr Sefcovic and his team will now travel to London on Thursday for talks.