Boris Johnson’s Brexit minister seemed to dismiss any talk of compromise with Brussels regarding Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit rules.
Lord Frost stated today to MPs that the Government would not accept a role in the European Court of Justice in settling disputes between them.
Last week, reports suggested that the UK would be open to keeping the EU’s internal court as part of the arbitration process for trade disputes if an independent body was established.
According to a Government source, this system is ‘exactly the kind of compromise that could work’.
But appearing in front of the European Scrutiny Committee this afternoon the peer said: ‘We are not interested in the court by another name or another route.’
Lord Frost stated today to MPs that the Government would not accept a role in the European Court of Justice in settling disputes between them.
According to reports last week, Boris Johnson (pictured today), was open to the retention of the EU’s internal court for the arbitration process for trade disputes if an independent body was created that rendered its use unnecessary.
“What we would prefer to see is an arbitration mechanism that is normal in these type of treaties, it’s exactly what we have with the trade and cooperation agreement (TCA).
“The TCA arrangements are excellent arrangements… We worked very hard last year on them and would be a good example in this case too.”
He said that the UK was not interested in any arrangements that would keep the court under another name.
“It’s very unusual in an International Treaty to have disputes settled by the court of one party to it and that is the fundamental principle that you take into this and the fundamental thing you need to remove to the arrangements going forward.
The UK and EU reached an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol to get around the main obstacle to Brexit divorce talks: the Irish land border.
It did this by moving regulatory and customs controls and processes to the Irish Sea.
However, the arrangements have created new economic obstacles to goods moving from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
This has caused disruption to many Northern Ireland businesses and has also created a major political headache in the Government. Unionists and loyalists are furious about what they perceive as a weakening Union.
As part of an attempt to end the ongoing dispute, the EU made substantial concessions last week on goods entry to Northern Ireland via Great Britain.
The European Commission offered to drastically cut customs processing for British goods going to Northern Ireland and to eliminate 80 percent of regulatory checks.
The plan did not address a crucial UK demand, namely the removal of oversight functions of the ECJ.
Lord Frost stated that the UK Government supported some aspects of the European Commission’s proposals for reforming the Northern Ireland Protocol, but claimed that some of the ideas were ‘problematic’.
The Brexit minister said to the Commons European Scrutiny Committee that both sides understood that there were problems with the current state of affairs. He told MPs that Brussels’ proposals do, first and foremost, acknowledge that they might be open to changing their laws to deal with the unique situation in Northern Ireland’.
The Conservative peer said: “The problem with them, is that they don’t go far enough.”
“I don’t think they would deliver the kind of ambitious trade liberalization between Great Britain and Northern Ireland we want, but we are trying to find out if they could find the basis for going further than what they have presented.
“That’s the type of discussions that we have been having, and it has been quite constructive thus far. However, the gaps between us remain substantial and there is still a lot to do.