One of the biggest issues this week that has developed over the past few days is a new disagreement about Brexit. Though the United Kingdom and the European Union are currently engaged in negotiations for their future trade relationship, the UK government proposed a new bill that jeopardized the talks.
The so-called Internal Market Bill deals with Northern Ireland. If approved by Parliament, it will give the United Kingdom the right to pass further regulation or cancel existing legislation pertaining to trade in Northern Ireland.
However, according to the withdrawal agreement signed by the EU and the UK right before the Brexit deadline, the close trading relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland must be guaranteed. For this reason, Northern Ireland will adhere to EU rules. If the UK were to change those, that would be in a direct breach of the withdrawal agreement.
In addition, considering the fact that the withdrawal agreement itself took over two years of negotiations and was signed by the UK and all EU member states, violating a clause of it is against international law. Even members of Boris Johnson’s own party have condemned the move as eroding the UK’s international prestige because it can create trust issues.
The Internal Market Bill has not yet passed. It is set to be discussed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom starting Monday. However, the European Union has stated that if the UK does not scrap the bill by the end of September, it will end the negotiations for a trade agreement that have been going on since January. The EU could also sue the UK government over the breach of the withdrawal agreement.
Despite the European Union’s fury over the proposed bill, Michel Barnier and David Frost are sticking to their schedule and following through on the regular trade negotiations. They met this week and will meet again next week, regardless of what is going on in the UK Parliament.
Nevertheless, the talks have not been going well. There are still major disagreements on key issues. PM Boris Johnson has stated that he wants a deal by October 15, when there will be a European Council meeting. But with only a month remaining, so many disputes, and Johnson’s newest provocation in the form of the new bill, a free trade agreement is becoming less and less likely. The British pound is all the worse for it as a result.
