British Prime Minister EU withdraws new proposal to Congress | NHK News

British Prime Minister EU withdrawal To explain the new proposal to Congress October 3rd, 20:08

As EU cuts off the European Union's withdrawal deadline for a month, British Prime Minister Johnson will make a new proposal as a final option to explore the path to an agreement with the EU, which will be explained later in Congress. The proposal will require not only the EU but also the approval of the Parliament, and will focus on whether Prime Minister Johnson can persuade the Parliament.

British Prime Minister Johnson did not agree with the EU to realize the withdrawal, and presented a new proposal to the EU side over the border management in Northern Ireland, which has been a concern.

According to the proposal, the UK as a whole withdrew from the EU customs union, but for Northern Ireland, for a certain period of time, in accordance with the rules of EU crops and industrial products, without strict customs screening, based on local intentions. It includes things that you can trade with the Irish side.

Prime Minister Johnson will explain this proposal to Congress on the third night of Japan time. Prime Minister Johnson wants to proceed with discussions, as the EU has no choice but to accept this proposal in order to avoid leaving without agreement, but it also needs approval from the British Parliament.

However, the largest opposition party and labor party have criticized it as “the content is worse than the previous proposal”.

The ruling and conservative parties are losing a majority in the parliament, so Johnson will focus on whether he can persuade the parliament as well as the EU.

Proposal content

In the discussions so far, the biggest challenge has been how to manage the land border with the EU after Britain leaves.

The problem is the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, where Britain is connected to the EU.

However, because of the history of conflicts in the region, the UK and the EU have been exploring ways to manage logistics without creating physical barriers that would normally be at the border.

The previous proposal was that virtually all of Britain would remain in the EU customs union until a fundamental solution for border management was found. This arrangement is called “backstop”. However, unless a fundamental solution was found, this “backstop” caused a strong backlash in the British Parliament that the UK might have to follow the EU rules.

For this reason, the new proposal does not adopt a “backstop” and the UK leaves the EU customs union. However, special regulations apply to Northern Ireland, and the rules for EU agricultural and industrial products remain unchanged.

Inspections at customs when things cross national borders are distributed and physical inspections are kept to a minimum.

However, whether or not to apply these special provisions is not a decision, and the Northern Ireland Autonomous Government and local councils decide every four years. In the new proposal, the idea of ​​separating only Northern Ireland from the UK and applying different rules is taken, but there is a possibility that there will be a backlash from the UK.

In addition, Johnson's proposal will continue to have an inspection base equivalent to the border, and it seems that the EU will see a problem that may lead to a resurgence of the former conflict. Also, the judgment left to the Northern Ireland Autonomous Government and local councils suggests that this framework can be extremely volatile.