Friday marked the end of six months since the May elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, meaning that the UK is now legally obliged to call fresh elections. However – little will change.
The political balance in Northern Ireland will be almost identical after the new polls, which are likely to be held on 15 December. Sinn Fein, which supports a United Ireland, will top the poll again, followed by the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Failure to agree on a new government is not a surprise. The DUP has been clear for well over a year that the impasse would remain until the Northern Ireland protocol is either heavily amended or scrapped.
Most of the blame must lie with successive UK governments and primarily Boris Johnson’s administration, which promised the Unionist community that businesses would face no additional bureaucracy when trading with the rest of the UK after Brexit. At best this pledge was misleading, at worst a flat-out lie.
It was then compounded by a failure to prepare businesses for the new regime of customs checks introduced by the protocol.
The protocol is an imperfect compromise that has been clumsily implemented. It is understandable that the EU wants to safeguard the integrity of the single market, and the strict implementation of border checks should have come as no surprise to the UK after over 40 years of EU membership.
The chaos at the top of government in London that has paralysed ministers for most of this year has hardly helped.
However, the European Commission can’t wash its hands of all responsibility.
The threat that goods and products made in the UK pose a risk to the single market has been massively overplayed. Only a tiny number of products pass from Britain to Northern Ireland and then south to the Republic of Ireland. The bureaucratic hoops introduced by the protocol to deal with them are akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.
Secondly, both Brussels and London are responsible for the protocol and the effects of its implementation.
Northern Ireland has undoubtedly been a victim of the Brexit process. The fragility of its political system and of the peace process means that it is also uniquely ill-equipped to deal with this status. The longer Belfast goes without a government, the harder it will be to make the protocol, which explicitly requires the consent of the Northern Irish people, work.
As Sinn Fein, the DUP and the rest move into campaign mode, both the UK and the Commission must show good faith in finally working the protocol out.
The Roundup
The much-criticised free trade agreement between the EU and the four Latin American countries in Mercosur is currently at a standstill but will be revived if Socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wins the Brazilian presidential elections on Sunday (30 October).
In the late hours of Thursday (27 October), lawmakers agreed to phase out the sale of polluting vehicles from 2035. This represents a great victory for the environment and for Europe, but to be a true success, we must also ensure that it is a victory for workers, MEP Sara Cerdas told EURACTIV.
The European Commission will table a “strategic vision” for carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies next year, with the aim of clarifying rules and giving certainty to investors, EU energy chief Kadri Simson announced on Thursday (27 October).
Germany is pushing ahead with the development of smart villages – a move EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said was crucial for developing rural areas.
Italian MEP Alessandra Moretti said scientists “know for sure” that novel alternative tobacco and nicotine products are harmful. However, some still question whether applying this approach of ‘precautionary principle’ is good for heavy smokers who cannot quit.
And of course, don’t forget our Tech Brief.
Look out for…
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is on an official visit to Montenegro on Saturday
- Informal meeting of EU trade ministers on Sunday
- Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis meets US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Prague on Sunday.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
