UK, EU continue post-brexit talks but remain far apart
LONDON – The U.K. and the European Union inched away from a diplomatic cliff edge on Friday but remained miles apart in a post-brexit spat that risks escalating into a cross-channel trade war.
Talks to resolve differences over Northern Ireland trade have dragged on for almost a month, with EU officials increasingly concerned that Britain plans to suspend parts of the legally binding divorce agreement between the two sides.
That would trigger EU retaliation and could spiral into a trade war between the 27-nation bloc and its increasingly estranged former member.
The two sides' top Brexit officials – David Frost for Britain and Maros Sefcovic for the EU – emerged from a meeting Friday in London with soothing words, but no major progress. But they agreed to keep talking.
“We need to make serious headway in the course of next week,” Sefcovic said. The British government said Frost wanted “to bring new energy and impetus to discussions.”
Sefcovic said he welcomed a “change in tone” from Frost, who has previously threatened to trigger an emergency break clause in the deal that lets either side suspend the agreement. That would bring legal action from the EU, and potentially damaging economic sanctions.
In recent days Frost has toned down his language, saying he would not “give up on this process unless and until it is abundantly clear that nothing more can be done.”
Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. and shares a border with EU member Ireland. Under the Brexit deal it remains inside the EU'S tariff-free single market for goods, to ensure there is an open border on the island of Ireland – a key pillar of Northern Ireland's peace process.
That has created a new customs border in the Irish Sea for goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K., even though they are part of the same country.
That has brought red tape for businesses, and has angered Northern Ireland's British Unionists, who say the checks undermine Northern Ireland's place in the U.K. and destabilize the delicate political balance. Two buses were hijacked and set alight in Protestant Loyalist areas in recent weeks, in violence linked to tensions over the trade arrangements.
The bloc has agreed to make changes to the deal, offering to reduce checks on food, plants and animals entering Northern Ireland by as much as 80% and to cut paperwork for transport companies in half.
Britain is demanding the EU go farther and remove its top court from its role in resolving any disputes over the agreement, an idea the bloc rejects.
“The European Court of Justice is the guardian of the single-market rules,” Sefcovic said. “The European Union needs to protect the integrity of the single market.”
Trust between the two sides has evaporated, with the EU accusing Britain of failing to engage with the bloc's proposals, and the U.K. claiming the EU does not understand the delicate political and social balance in Northern Ireland.