EU agrees to use UK trade database in post-Brexit accord
The European Union and the United Kingdom have agreed to share Britain’s live database tracking the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sign that post-Brexit trading sticus have thawed.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič nalised the new accord over lunch, they announced in a joint statement earlier this month.
“This work was a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance and provided a new basis for EUUK discussions,” reads the statement.
At the centre of negotiations was the so-called Northern
Ireland protocol, a part of the EUUK Brexit deal that kept some of the bloc’s trading rules in place in Northern Ireland to avoid border inastructure.
The protocol has eectively maintained Northern Ireland’s place in the EU’s single market, a way of keeping an open border with the Irish Republic aer Brexit. On the other hand, this has eectively built a trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain, which the UK has said undermines internal trade.
The British government has threatened to override much of the agreement if the EU fails to agree to changes.
With both parties using the UK IT systems to track goods, the UK and EU have a potential path forward to ensure trade happens more swily. One proposal by the UK, for example, suggests a faster “green channel” at ports for ships that are bringing goods that will stay in Northern Ireland. Ships in that channel would not have to complete customs paperwork, while a red channel for goods that will ultimately arrive in the Republic of Ireland would process international trade.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s oce called the deal “an important step forward” as part of eorts to end the larger impasse over Northern Ireland.
In order for that to happen, both sides will have to resolve a host of contentions, including the role of the European Court of Justice in trade disputes and agreements on plant, animal and food checks.