Sir Tony Blair today contributed to the pressure on the EU to back down in the disagreement with the UK over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade rules.
Former Labour Prime Minister Ed Miliband has urged Brussels to demonstrate “maximum flexibility” in resolving the Northern Ireland Protocol dispute.
He described the present arrangement, which was reached to avoid a hard border on Ireland’s island, as a “poor bargain.”
Sir Tony also raised concerns that the present battle over the Protocol could jeopardize the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Long-simmering concerns over the Protocol exploded anew last month when Boris Johnson announced plans for the UK government to unilaterally withdraw from crucial elements of the accord.
The move enraged Brussels, with EU officials predicting a severe trade war with the United Kingdom as a result.
The EU also reaffirmed its position that it “cannot renegotiate” the Protocol and that a solution must be found “within the bounds” of the current agreement.
The Protocol controversy is now preventing the formation of a Northern Ireland power-sharing government, with the DUP refusing to join an administration until the deal is revised.
As part of their Protocol protest, the unionist party also brought the new Northern Ireland Assembly, which was elected at the beginning of last month, to a halt by refusing to designate a Speaker.
Sir Tony outlined a set of initiatives that both Britain and the EU may take to resolve the dispute in a new study from his thinktank.
The present Protocol, according to the ex-PM, is a “poor deal” that “didn’t handle” post-Brexit difficulties for Northern Ireland, while Mr Johnson’s government is “now basically in disorderly retreat from the agreement it made.”
Sir Tony warned that if the concerns at the heart of the protocol are not handled, “the issues at the heart of the protocol have the possibility of triggering an expanded trade battle between the UK and the EU, or undermining the Good Friday Agreement – or quite possibly both.”
‘In the interests of greater European unity and commerce – notably at a time when Europe, including the UK, has come together impressively over Ukraine – both the EU and the UK should demonstrate maximum flexibility in order to reach a deal,’ he wrote in a message to both Number 10 and Brussels.
In order to end the disagreement, Sir Tony also demanded’significant movement’ from the EU’s current position.
Mr Johnson, on the other hand, would have to engage directly with EU leaders, bypassing the ‘two bureaucratic systems’ in Brussels and London, according to him.
‘In this paper, we set out a practical path forward, one that would eliminate the vast majority of border checks on goods moving between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, provide a compromise on the involvement of the European Court of Justice, and give representatives from all sides of the community greater opportunities for consultation on draft EU laws affecting Northern Ireland,’ he added in a foreword to the report.
‘At the very least, it’s a plausible landing zone for resolving the conflict.’ It could be done within the Protocol’s framework, but it would necessitate a considerable shift in the EU’s declared position on the Protocol’s interpretation.
‘In my opinion – based on my extensive experience in EU negotiations – things have reached such a point of distrust that the two bureaucratic systems will not be able to resolve this; it must be done at the highest political level because, in the end, it is not a question of technical work but of political will and leadership.’
In a new research, the Tony Blair Foundation, the former Labour prime minister’s thinktank, calls for the UK and EU to agree on a ‘Northern Ireland approved’ goods designation to decrease the number of inspections needed on commerce between the two countries.
A ‘strong surveillance and enforcement system to prevent non-compliance’ was also advocated in the paper, as well as the formation of a ‘governance arrangement to oversee future trade obstacles.’
It also suggested that Northern Ireland and the UK government have “more consultation opportunities on draft EU rules that apply to Northern Ireland.”