Question of clarification The Government aims to honour commitments but avoid confusion

Q What is the Government doing?

A Ministers are planning legislation to clarify – or override – key parts of the Withdrawal Agreement Boris Johnson signed up to last year.

In provisions due to be put before Parliament, the Government seeks to clear up grey areas that exist in the Northern Ireland protocol, which was established to ensure there was no hard border on the island of Ireland.

While critics claim the unilateral move risks breaching commitments the UK signed up to, No10 insists the changes are needed to end legal confusion and provide certainty for businesses in the event of no deal.

Q What changes are being made?

A These relate to three areas: state aid, paperwork and customs checks and tariffs. Under the Northern Ireland protocol, the UK must notify the EU of any subsidies that could affect trade between Northern Ireland and the Single Market.

However, Brexiteers believe that ambiguity in the protocol could be exploited by Brussels to interfere with subsidies for businesses in Great Britain which have only a limited link to Northern Ireland.

Ministers intend to address this by making clear that EU state aid rules will only apply in Northern Ireland.

The second issue relates to the requirement that Northern Ireland businesses must complete export summary declarations when they send goods to Great Britain, which Brexiteers argue is incompatible with the promise that the province will enjoy “unfettered access” to the UK internal market. The Government therefore intends to legislate to waive this requirement.

The third relates to a list of “at risk” goods heading into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, which could enter the EU Single Market (via the Republic of Ireland) and must therefore be subject to tariffs. Goods shown to have been consumed in Northern Ireland can have the tariff rebated, but businesses warn that this will be administrative nightmare that will add to their costs. To lessen the impact, the Government intends to hand ministers the power to determine which goods will be considered “at risk” if no agreement is reached.

Q What are the consequences of the changes?

A The Government insists that it is merely attempting to define ambiguous parts of the protocol and it intends to honour its commitments set out in the withdrawal agreement.

But the EU says the UK must fully implement the Withdrawal Agreement if a trade deal is to be reached.

In particular, the UK seeking to determine which goods heading into Northern Ireland are liable for EU tariffs is seen as highly contentious.

Brussels is also concerned about the prospect of the UK using state aid to give its businesses an unfair advantage, and is likely to object to UK attempts to dilute its obligations.

If it believes the UK has reneged on its commitments, it could collapse the talks and trigger no deal.