UK foreign secretary stands by London’s softer line on protocol after talks with EU negotiator
–
Liz Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, said on Tuesday she wants to “urgently resolve” the UK-EU dispute over post-Brexit trading relations in Northern Ireland, to allow both sides to focus on global challenges.
Truss, who on Sunday replaced [Lord David Frost](https://archive.md/saLlT) as the chief negotiator on the Northern Ireland protocol, said she wanted to “unleash the potential” of the UK-EU relationship, blighted by post-Brexit feuding.
In a statement after her first conversation with her negotiating counterpart, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, Truss made it clear she stood by [the softer line](https://archive.md/xJa7b) adopted by the UK in talks in recent days.
Truss, who travelled to Washington in September, is also aware that the row over Northern Ireland is souring relations with the US and holding up the removal of [US sanctions](https://archive.md/Dt2Lt) against British metals exports.
Some in Brussels fear that Truss, who supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, might take a tougher line than Frost to cement her relationship with rightwing Eurosceptic Tory MPs.
But Truss said the UK position “has not changed” since she replaced Frost, who quit on Saturday in protest over the “direction of travel” of Boris Johnson’s government, including on Covid restrictions.
Allies of Truss confirmed that the foreign secretary did not intend to reverse the concessions, approved by Johnson, which are designed to make an agreed deal on the Northern Ireland protocol possible.
“She wants to increase the pace of talks,” said one ally, referring to the long-running discussions on reforming the protocol, which governs trade in the region. Under the terms of the Brexit deal, Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, but this necessitates some checks on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Truss repeated the UK threat to activate the Article 16 override mechanism to suspend part of the protocol if there was no deal, but she said her preference was “to reach an agreed solution”.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist party, who has threatened to pull down the power-sharing Northern Ireland executive in January unless the Irish Sea border is scrapped, also held virtual talks with Truss on Tuesday. She said she planned to visit Northern Ireland early in the new year, a spokesman for Donaldson said.
Crucially, in her conversation with Sefcovic, Truss repeated the formulation that the UK did not want the European Court of Justice to be the “final arbiter of disputes” between the two sides; that would leave scope for the ECJ to continue to adjudicate on issues of EU single market law relating to Northern Ireland.
Truss also said she wanted goods to “flow freely” between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but the UK accepts now that some checks will be needed in some cases at Irish Sea ports in the region.
The EU has offered to cut checks on food and animal exports by 80 per cent and customs paperwork by 50 per cent, but London is sceptical about whether the Brussels proposals would deliver on that target.
Sefcovic told the Financial Times [in an interview on Friday](https://archive.md/QWPB8) that he could guarantee meaningful reductions in bureaucracy. “If we promise and commit ourselves to such significant reductions . . . we will achieve that.”
Meanwhile some politicians have voiced concern over whether Truss’s equalities ministerial brief will be sidelined as she takes on the additional responsibilities as the UK’s new Brexit negotiator.
Questioned on whether Truss would have time for the women and equalities portfolio given her expanded job responsibilities, the Tory chair of the House of Commons women and equalities select committee, Caroline Nokes, reiterated calls for the role to be made a cabinet-level position.
*George Parker and Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe in London, Andy Bounds in Brussels and Jude Webber in Dublin*
Tuesday December 21 2021
There is no row. There’s the UK govt trying not to honour a trade agreement and finding they have nothing to negotiate with.
3 comments
UK foreign secretary stands by London’s softer line on protocol after talks with EU negotiator
–
Liz Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, said on Tuesday she wants to “urgently resolve” the UK-EU dispute over post-Brexit trading relations in Northern Ireland, to allow both sides to focus on global challenges.
Truss, who on Sunday replaced [Lord David Frost](https://archive.md/saLlT) as the chief negotiator on the Northern Ireland protocol, said she wanted to “unleash the potential” of the UK-EU relationship, blighted by post-Brexit feuding.
In a statement after her first conversation with her negotiating counterpart, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, Truss made it clear she stood by [the softer line](https://archive.md/xJa7b) adopted by the UK in talks in recent days.
“We want a constructive relationship with the EU, underpinned by trade and our shared belief in freedom and democracy,” [she said](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-call-with-european-commission-vice-president-maros-sefcovic-21-december-2021). “Resolving the current issues is critical to unleashing that potential.”
Truss, who travelled to Washington in September, is also aware that the row over Northern Ireland is souring relations with the US and holding up the removal of [US sanctions](https://archive.md/Dt2Lt) against British metals exports.
Some in Brussels fear that Truss, who supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, might take a tougher line than Frost to cement her relationship with rightwing Eurosceptic Tory MPs.
But Truss said the UK position “has not changed” since she replaced Frost, who quit on Saturday in protest over the “direction of travel” of Boris Johnson’s government, including on Covid restrictions.
Allies of Truss confirmed that the foreign secretary did not intend to reverse the concessions, approved by Johnson, which are designed to make an agreed deal on the Northern Ireland protocol possible.
“She wants to increase the pace of talks,” said one ally, referring to the long-running discussions on reforming the protocol, which governs trade in the region. Under the terms of the Brexit deal, Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, but this necessitates some checks on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Truss repeated the UK threat to activate the Article 16 override mechanism to suspend part of the protocol if there was no deal, but she said her preference was “to reach an agreed solution”.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist party, who has threatened to pull down the power-sharing Northern Ireland executive in January unless the Irish Sea border is scrapped, also held virtual talks with Truss on Tuesday. She said she planned to visit Northern Ireland early in the new year, a spokesman for Donaldson said.
Crucially, in her conversation with Sefcovic, Truss repeated the formulation that the UK did not want the European Court of Justice to be the “final arbiter of disputes” between the two sides; that would leave scope for the ECJ to continue to adjudicate on issues of EU single market law relating to Northern Ireland.
Truss also said she wanted goods to “flow freely” between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but the UK accepts now that some checks will be needed in some cases at Irish Sea ports in the region.
The EU has offered to cut checks on food and animal exports by 80 per cent and customs paperwork by 50 per cent, but London is sceptical about whether the Brussels proposals would deliver on that target.
Sefcovic told the Financial Times [in an interview on Friday](https://archive.md/QWPB8) that he could guarantee meaningful reductions in bureaucracy. “If we promise and commit ourselves to such significant reductions . . . we will achieve that.”
Meanwhile some politicians have voiced concern over whether Truss’s equalities ministerial brief will be sidelined as she takes on the additional responsibilities as the UK’s new Brexit negotiator.
Questioned on whether Truss would have time for the women and equalities portfolio given her expanded job responsibilities, the Tory chair of the House of Commons women and equalities select committee, Caroline Nokes, reiterated calls for the role to be made a cabinet-level position.
*George Parker and Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe in London, Andy Bounds in Brussels and Jude Webber in Dublin*
Tuesday December 21 2021
There is no row. There’s the UK govt trying not to honour a trade agreement and finding they have nothing to negotiate with.
Add this here:
>[Jill Rutter: Boris Johnson’s post-Frost organisation of Brexit looks poorly thought through](https://ukandeu.ac.uk/liz-truss-lord-frost-brexit/)
and, if you missed it, Truss’s only not totally copy/paste FTA deal:
>[Independent: Australia deal will cause £94m blow to UK farming, fishing and forestry, government admits](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-trade-deal-australia-agriculture-b1980000.html)
>
>Boris Johnson’s government accused of ‘selling farmers down the river’