The Times: ‘UK wants to revoke Northern Ireland’s EU status’ | abroad

According to The Times, Foreign Office staff were said to have drafted a bill that would unilaterally abolish mandatory customs controls on goods sent from the UK to Northern Ireland. Additionally, under the bill, companies in Northern Ireland will no longer have to comply with EU rules and legislation. In addition, the European Court of Justice should not be allowed to rule on cases relating to Northern Ireland, the newspaper said.

After the United Kingdom left the European Union, it was agreed that Northern Ireland would remain part of the European single market, even though Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. Otherwise, there will be customs controls again at the border with the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the European Union. A difficult border would contravene the peace agreement signed by the British and Irish governments in 1998 that ended the violent conflict between pro-British Protestants and pro-Ireland Catholics.

According to The Times, the official decision to suspend Northern Ireland’s special status in the European Union is expected next week. A spokesman for Truss’ office told Reuters news agency that no decisions had been made yet on the progress of the negotiations, but that the situation at the moment was “extremely dangerous”.