UK-EU trade deal might collapse in row over Northern Ireland, says Irish Minister

A senior Irish politician has recently stated that the trade agreement of the United Kingdom with the European Union might be jeopardised due to a dispute over Northern Ireland. As per BBC, the United Kingdom is rumoured to be considering suspending sections of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Responding to the suspension, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney indicated that the EU may dissolve the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Quoting Coveney, BBC reported, “One is contingent on the other so that if one is being set aside there is a danger that the other will also be set aside by the EU." Northern Ireland is regulated by a Protocol which is a specific Brexit agreement, that helps to maintain Northern Ireland's membership in the single marketplace of EU for goods. The protocol further avoids any physical border with Ireland and permits free-flowing commerce with the EU. However, the protocol does establish a commercial border between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, which is creating problems for certain companies.  

Further, there is a provision under Article 16 of the Protocol that some portions of the agreement can be suspended if it is causing substantial concerns, which the UK claims that its threshold has reached. Meanwhile, the EU has suggested some practical adjustments to the Protocol, whereas the United Kingdom is pressing for more significant far-reaching revisions. 

'The British government are laying the foundations to trigger Article 16'

Coveney has even claimed that suspending some parts of the Northern Ireland protocol by the UK might lead to a deliberate collapse in ties and discussion between the two sides. He further stated on Sunday that he had been hearing "messages" from Northern Ireland's political parties, the European Commission (EC), and others about the planning of UK administration to set off Article 16 following the COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow. 

Simon Coveney stated, "I think all the evidence now suggests that the British government is laying the foundations to trigger Article 16," BBC reported. The Irish Foreign Minister said that the UK was requesting something that they cannot get on purpose. 

Other leaders respond to the dispute

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Party's leader, previously stated that postponing portions of Northern Ireland's Brexit accord would not address or resolve the UK-EU conflict. Even the former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major revealed that engaging Article 16 and terminating parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol might be "colossally stupid." 

Meanwhile, Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party, had cautioned the British government that suspending portions of the protocol might jeopardise the overall Brexit separation deal with the EU.

(Image: AP)