The management of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – the only land border between the United Kingdom and a European Union state – continues to be a political headache for the parties concerned.
The Democratic Unionist Party last week threatened to quit the power-sharing government of the region if the proposed arrangements were not reviewed. Leader Jeffrey Donaldson said last week that the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol ‘fundamentally undermines … the economic integrity of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland’s position in it’.
The agreement mandates customs checks at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, while also maintaining an ‘open border’ – the latter being a central element of keeping peace and stability after a decades-long insurgency and sectarian violence.
The DUP argues that the measures impose extra burdens on the region’s economy and pull it away from the rest of the UK.
The UK government has objected to the measures, calling for a ‘light touch’ approach that would focus on goods that might reasonably be destined for the EU as a whole.
Sinn Fein, which is also party to the power-sharing agreement, called Donaldson’s comments ‘reckless, irresponsible and short-sighted’.
European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic has, however, rejected renegotiating the agreement. He said that the protocol needed to be properly implemented, and remarked: ‘I know it is possible for us to work together, if rhetoric on both sides is dialled down.’
[Image: Michal Osmenda, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24417980]