Macron lashes out at Johnson in trade row as G7 comes to a close
The French president seemed to suggest the province was not part of the United Kingdom
EMMANUEL MACRON has declared that Boris Johnson was “well aware” of “incoherences” in the Northern Ireland Protocol when he signed up to it, as the sausage trade row deepened yesterday.
The French president used a press conference at the end of the three-day G7 summit in Cornwall to demand that the Prime Minister act “professionally” and respect the terms of the controversial mechanism.
The Brexit row threatened to overshadow the summit of leaders from wealthy democracies, although Joe Biden, the US President, avoided being drawn into taking sides during his own press conference, before he flew to Windsor to meet the Queen.
The Northern Ireland Protocol, which was negotiated as part of Brexit, introduced customs checks on goods crossing from Britain to Northern Ireland in order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
However, it has resulted in significant disruption to the movement of food, plants and other items and has stoked political tensions in NI. Under the terms of the protocol, new checks on sausages, burgers and other chilled meats are to start from next month.
Mr Johnson is pressing the EU to agree to a more “pragmatic” application of the rules, but if resolution cannot be reached, he has threatened to unilaterally renege on part of the deal.
No 10 is fearful that the new category of checks on chilled meats could undermine the integrity of the UK and escalate the febrile political situation in NI.
Mr Macron yesterday signalled he saw no room manoeuvre, echoing the stance of EU leaders who also warned over the weekend that “both sides must implement what we agreed on”.
Mr Macron said: “For a number of years after Brexit we’ve established certain rules and a protocol of agreement and commercial treaty for future relations. We just want them to be respected seriously, calmly, professionally – that’s all.”
Insisting that the Brexit deal that Mr Johnson signed off on “always envisaged controls”, Mr Macron added: “One mustn’t make the EU deal with certain incoherences that the UK was well aware of at the beginning.”
His intervention came after it emerged that he had suggested Northern Ireland was not an integral part of the United Kingdom during bilateral talks with Mr Johnson on Saturday morning. Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said Mr Macron’s attitude was “offensive” and “a failure to understand the facts”. Such attitudes “cause damage to businesses from both communities in Northern Ireland” and spark “deep consternation”, he told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show.
Speaking to reporters in French, Mr Macron insisted that “France has never allowed itself to question British sovereignty, the integrity of the British territory.”
In a further dig at the UK, he described Brexit as “the child of this British sovereignty”, adding: “It has created thousands of hours or work for European leaders, so we know very well what British sovereignty is.”
DOMINIC RAAB has lashed out at European leaders for expressing “offensive” attitudes about the UK, after Emmanuel Macron was accused of disputing whether Northern Ireland was an integral part of the country.
The Foreign Secretary said that “varsame ious figures here in Carbis Bay” had for years been making such a suggestion, which he stressed was “wrong” and a “failure to understand the facts”.
His intervention came after the French president was said to have enraged Boris Johnson during bilateral talks on the fringes of the G7 summit on Saturday morning.
A UK government source told The Daily Telegraph: “The PM said to Mr Macron: ‘How would you like it if the French courts stopped you moving Toulouse sausages to Paris?’ He replied it was not a good comparison because Paris and Toulouse are both part of the country.” Mr Raab warned that airing such attitudes “causes damage to businesses from both communities in Northern Ireland” and “creates deep consternation” in the region.
The British Government would never question the status of regions in other European countries, he said, as he demanded “respect from the other side”.
Appearing on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, the Foreign Secretary added: “We wouldn’t dream of talking of the northern region of Italy, the German Lander, or other provinces, particularly ones where there are these nationalist pressures … in those terms.”
Edwin Poots, the DUP leader, also weighed in on the escalating diplomatic row, declaring he has sent Mr Macron a copy of the Belfast Agreement to remind him about Northern Ireland’s constitutional status.
He also branded the French President’s attitude “offensive” and said it “demands a statement from the French administration which recognises Northern Ireland’s constitutional status”.
Boris Johnson told reporters that he “continuously” makes the point that Northern Ireland is part of “one great indivisible United Kingdom”.
Over the weekend Mr Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other EU chiefs signalled their intransigence over the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has caused disruption to the flow of food, plants and other goods between Britain and NI.
The Prime Minister hit back yesterday, however, warning he will do “whatever it takes” to protect the territorial integrity of the country, amid fears about a fresh tranche of custom checks on sausages and chilled goods that are set to start from next month.
He called on EU leaders to be less “theological” in their application of the terms of the agreement, and to agree a more “pragmatic” approach.
The row risked overshadowing the G7 summit, but Mr Johnson insisted it had formed only a small part of the discussions that took place at Carbis Bay.
“The vast, vast majority of the conversations that we have had over the last three or four days have been about other subjects and there has been a fantastic degree of harmony between the leaders of our countries,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference to sum up the three-day meeting, which marked Joe Biden’s first international trip since he became US president, Mr Johnson paid tribute to the G7 leaders’ pledge to donate more than a billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to developing countries.
He also highlighted the joint commitment to cut emissions and seek to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees, reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.
Mr Johnson said: “While it’s fantastic that every one of the G7 countries has pledged to wipe out our contributions to climate change, we need to make sure we’re achieving that as fast as we can”
Macron was sent a copy of the Belfast Agreement to remind him about Northern Ireland’s constitutional status