Euskaraz irakurri: Windsor akordioaren hiru gako: zirkulazio askea, tokia eta defizit demokratikoa

The call Windsor Framework Agreement Announced today by the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), which reforms the Protocol for Northern Ireland, it addresses the main problems that this Brexit instrument has created in the territory.

These are the main areas that the new pact reforms, which pays special attention to governance, sovereignty and trade in the territory.

-Free movement of goods

Since the entry into force of Brexit, the protocol has kept Northern Ireland within the Community and British internal market, which is why trade controls between the United Kingdom and the EU have been carried out at the Northern Irish entry points, which it avoids building a physical border between the two Irelands and does not harm the peace agreement of Good Friday (1998).

The negotiated agreement now establishes a green and red lane system between Great Britain (Scotland, Wales and England) and the territory.

Goods destined for Northern Ireland without routine checks will go through the green lanes -electronically monitored by the EC-, while those exported to the Republic of Ireland to enter the community market will go through the red lanes, so which would undergo customs formalities in Northern Irish ports.

– The position of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom

The second element of the agreement deals with the application of certain community laws and, consequently, the situation that some British laws cannot be applied in the territory, which, according to the unionists, jeopardizes their constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom.

This has caused, for example, Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) to impose different taxessuch as VAT, to products such as alcohol or renewable energy materials, since the territory is governed by the rules of the community internal market, with which it also had no access to state aid from London, vetoed by Brussels to avoid unfair competition .

With the new pact, the British Government will be able to make “key changes to VAT”, as explained by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who advanced that it will now be able, for example, to modify the tax rates on certain products with the same effect in all British regions.

– The democratic deficit in Northern Ireland

It has been one of the most delicate issues in these negotiations due to the firm rejection of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -the second Northern Irish force- to the role that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) would play in the territory.

The previous agreement, accepted by the previous British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, provided that Northern Ireland was governed by community laws regarding the single market and that any dispute would be settled in the European courts, which was also met with opposition from the hard wing of the Conservative Party.

This has also been a “red line” for Brussels, which understood that Northern Ireland’s access to the single market tied it to Community legislation and its arbitration bodies.

The compromise solution has been the application of a system similar to the one that has, for example, Norwaywhich is outside the block, but has access to the internal market.

In this way, Brussels must notify London in advance about new rules or directives that affect Northern Ireland, so that the British system will have the option of studying them and appealing.

The parties have decided that, before reaching the CJEU, any dispute may be examined in the first instance by the courts of Northern Ireland, which may then decide whether or not to refer it to Luxembourg, which will always have the last word.

Source: Eitb

Ricardo

Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.