Honour your word! Barnier orders UK to ‘respect’ EU – fresh Brexit row threatens to erupt
Brexit: UK removing 'unnecessary EU laws' says expert
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Speaking last night, the former EU chief negotiator also warned the page of Brexit had “not yet turned”. Mr Barnier spoke out as crunch talks take place over the future of the Northern Ireland protocol, agreed between London and Brussels as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
He said: “The British must respect their signature. It is they who caused the problem in Ireland by Brexit.
“We can see the attempts, the pressures, the provocations of the British who do not want to respect their signature.
“They are under observation, not only of us but also of Joe Biden who has Irish origins.”
The protocol was designed by the EU and UK to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
It achieves this by moving regulatory and customs checks to the Irish Sea, with goods imported into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK subject to a range of new regulatory checks.
But many unionist politicians at Stormont and loyalists are vehemently opposed to the protocol, which has created economic barriers on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Turning to fishing, Mr Barnier backed the French fishermen who recently protested due to an ongoing post-Brexit dispute over access to Jersey’s rich fishing grounds.
France and Britain sent patrol vessels to the Channel island as a flotilla of French trawlers sailed there in protest against the implementation of new licensing restrictions on May 6.
France threatened to cut off electricity to Jersey if they continued with the implementation of their proposed licensing scheme, which is required under the UK’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU.
Paris and London have also been at loggerheads with the UK Government over access for French vessels in other parts of the English Channel.
Mr Barnier, who is considering whether to stand in the 2022’s French presidential election made clear: “British attempts to take time, to increase the constraints, the conditions is not normal.
“It is right for French fishermen to protest.”
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The French politician concluded that to be a better UK, Britain should look at its diplomatic actions very carefully.
He added: “The UK is a great country, which must be attentive to its quality, its respectability, its image.
“I hope that it will understand that it is necessary to respect its signature and we are ready on the European side to be pragmatic.
“Take responsibility for the effects of Brexit.”
Whitehall would not be drawn to Mr Barnier’s comments when asked last night.
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