Tag: Ursula von der Leyen

I have difficult time supporting Rishi’s Brexit proposal – Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson said he will find it difficult to back Rishi Sunak‘s revised Brexit plan for Northern Ireland.

The former prime minister, who three years ago boasted of having a “oven-ready deal,” said the government “has to be transparent” going forward.

In a speech at Westminster, Mr. Johnson stated: “I’m going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this, because I believed we should’ve done something very different.

‘No matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in Brussels.

Boris Johnson is giving a speech during the Global Soft Power Summit at the QEII center in London (Picture: Reuters)

‘I’m conscious I’m not going to be thanked for saying this, but I think it is my job to do so: we must be clear about what is really going on here.

‘This is not about the UK taking back control, and although there are easements this is really a version of the solution that was being offered last year to Liz Truss when she was foreign secretary.

‘This is the EU graciously unbending to allow us to do what we want to do in our own country, not by our laws but by theirs.’

Mr Sunak delivered a Brexit trade agreement with Ursula von der Leyen earlier this week.

Speaking on Monday, he acknowledged that the UK and EU have ‘had our differences’, but declared ‘the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship’.

The new agreement includes green lane and red lane trade routes – with goods remaining in the UK using the green lane to avoid customs bureaucracy and goods moving to the EU being sent in the red lane.

A ‘landmark’ settlement on medicines has also been promised, as drugs approved for use by the UK’s medicines regulator will become automatically available in every pharmacy and hospital in Northern Ireland.

The arrangement comes with a new ‘Stormont brake’ – a move designed to ‘safeguard’ Northern Ireland’s sovereignty.

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Picture: AP)

Speaking today, Northern Ireland Office minister Lord Caine said there are still details of the Stormont brake ‘yet to be filled in’.

He told peers that consultation with Northern Ireland parties is imminent and legislation will follow.

His comments came as Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland, questioned the Government on the mechanism of the Stormont brake.

Lord Caine said: ‘What the command paper and the supporting documentation does is to set out the framework.

‘There are some details that have yet to be filled in that will be dealt with in legislation – and they will follow consultations that the Northern Ireland Secretary intends to begin with the Northern Ireland parties almost immediately.’

Concluding his speech, Mr Johnson conceded he made mistakes in signing his Northern Ireland Protocol that caused the DUP to walk out of powersharing because of trade barriers in the Irish Sea.

He said: ‘I thought those checks would not be onerous since there isn’t that much stuff that falls into that category; most of the goods stay in Northern Ireland.

Muttering, the former prime minister added: ‘It’s all my fault, I fully accept responsibility.’

March 2, 2023
Ursula von der Leyen arrives to complete the Brexit agreement

On Monday, when the head of the European Commission traveled to London to discuss the protocol with the prime minister, Rishi Sunak might reach an agreement on a Brexit settlement involving Northern Ireland.

After months of negotiations, Mr. Sunak is reportedly approaching “final talks” with Ursula von der Leyen, which could result in a breakthrough, according to Downing Street.
Early in the morning, Mrs. von der Leyen arrived in London.

Before disclosing the specifics of any reached agreement to voters and Lawmakers, Mr. Sunak intends to brief his Cabinet.

However, if the deal doesn’t meet the requests of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the party could continue to prevent a Northern Ireland devolved government from forming.

The deal could also pit the prime minister against hardline Brexiteers on his own backbenches.

MPs may get to vote on “part of the deal”, according to reports, but Downing Street has not fully committed to giving Parliament a vote.

February 27, 2023
UK, EU to collaborate to find solutions to the Northern Ireland Protocol

The European Commission and UK leaders have agreed to collaborate to address “very real problems” with the post-Brexit trade deal.

According to Sunak’s office, Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to work together to resolve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol – the post-Brexit trade deal.

The discussion at the COP27 conference in Egypt on Monday came as Britain renewed its call to Brussels to end a delay in granting access to European Union scientific research, as agreed in the post-Brexit trade deal.

Sunak inherited from his predecessors the problem of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was designed to prevent a return to violence in Ireland by avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Thus, although Northern Ireland remains part of Britain, it remains part of the EU’s trade bloc. But that means curtailment in its trade with the rest of Britain, which is vocally opposed by unionists who claim it cuts off the region from the rest of Britain.

The post-Brexit solution is cited as the Democratic Unionist Party’s main reason for refusing to return to power-sharing.

The instability in Northern Ireland has raised concerns in Dublin, Brussels and Washington and the row between Britain and the EU shows few signs of coming to a rapid conclusion, despite indications of a more positive tone from the British side in recent weeks.

‘Good first meeting’

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister reiterated the need to find solutions to the very real problems it had created on the ground in Northern Ireland. They agreed on the importance of working together to agree a resolution.”

Von der Leyen called it a “good first meeting”.

“We face many common challenges, from tackling climate change and the energy transition to Russia’s war against Ukraine,” she tweeted. She said she looked forward to “constructive cooperation” between the two countries.

This comes as Britain’s Europe minister, Leo Docherty, in an address to British and European parliamentarians at Westminster, is expected to say that, in continuing to deny access to research programmes such as Horizon, the EU is failing to fulfil its part of the agreement.

He will say that both sides stand to gain from cooperation on shared challenges, from climate change to global health and energy security.

“The UK’s participation would be a clear win-win for the UK and the EU, but the UK cannot wait much longer,” he will say, according to advance extracts of his address.

“The EU’s approach is causing intolerable uncertainty for our research and business communities.”

Working together

Although differences over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol have dominated the recent dialogue between London and Brussels, Docherty’s comments underline that other sources of friction remain.

In his speech, he will, however, emphasise how the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of the two sides working together.

“A clear lesson from the last nine months has been that, despite the challenges in our relationship, the UK and EU are effective allies where it matters most,” he will say.

“The Ukrainians have stood firm against Vladimir Putin, in part because of the actions of our government and those across the EU.

“That action has been stronger because it has been coordinated between us.

“I urge our European friends to continue to work with us in providing more weapons, imposing more sanctions, and backing Ukraine to push Russian forces out.”

November 7, 2022