Brexit continues to make waves in the UK -

Ben Cawthra / Sipa USA / SIPA

British MPs begin this Monday examining Boris Johnson's plan to reverse the Brexit deal, which sparked an outcry even in the Conservative majority and jeopardizes the conclusion of a trade agreement with the European Union.

The five former British Prime Ministers still alive, including David Cameron on Monday, have now all criticized the law "on the internal market", suggesting lively debates in the afternoon and evening in the House of Commons.

Brussels bangs its fist on the negotiating table

By the British government's own admission, this bill violates international law "in a very specific and limited way" by contradicting parts of the withdrawal agreement from the EU that London had committed to there. less than a year to comply, in particular the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Brussels threatened to take legal action and saw it as a blow to mutual "trust" as the two sides have only a few weeks to reach a free trade deal and avoid a brutal break-up. January 1 next.

This date corresponds to the end of the transition period amortizing the effective divorce since January 31.

Rebellion of deputies

A sign of the importance of the text for power, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will himself open the debates in Parliament, scheduled to last until next Tuesday.

According to him, it is "an essential piece of legislation for the United Kingdom", whose adoption before the end of the year is "crucial", said his spokesperson.

If the large majority available to his government makes it unlikely that the text will be rejected at second reading on Monday evening, rebel MPs could give decisive support to an amendment presented by MP Robert Neill which limits the powers of the government regarding any attack on the law. Brexit deal.

Still multiple obstacles

Giving weight to the sling, Geoffrey Cox, a former attorney general (legal adviser to the government), deemed "unthinkable" that the government evade its international obligations and warned that it would vote against the text, although it is conservative and pro-Brexit.

If it is voted in the House of Commons, the text will then have to cross the obstacle of the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, where criticism has been raised in the face of an assumed violation of international law.

New twists

This project has sparked a new political-diplomatic crisis in the Brexit saga, which began more than four years ago with the victory of the “leave” in the referendum.

The agreement concluded last year between London and Brussels provides for special customs arrangements for Northern Ireland, intended in particular to avoid the re-establishment of a physical border between the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, and the British province, in accordance with the 1998 peace agreement which ended three decades of violence.

Northern Ireland must remain subject to certain European provisions for four years, in particular concerning trade in goods.

But, according to British negotiator David Frost, the EU is threatening to refuse to place the United Kingdom on the list of countries authorized to export food products to this territory which is part of it, which would prevent imports into Northern Ireland from from the rest of the country.

Hide this "no deal" that I could not predict

Boris Johnson explained his approach by the need to avoid this risk of a food “blockade”.

If the bill is approved, the government will be able to unilaterally make business decisions in Northern Ireland, contrary to what was originally agreed.

Despite the crisis triggered by this project, discussions are continuing between British and European negotiators on a free trade agreement.

They are due to resume this week in Brussels but an eighth session last week did not allow any major breakthrough on the main blockages, namely London's compliance with rules avoiding creating unfair competition at the gates of the EU and the conditions for access for European fishermen to British waters.

The two parties said that an agreement should be reached in October to avoid a "no deal" amounting to the introduction of tariffs between the United Kingdom and the European bloc and risking aggravating the historic economic crisis caused by the pandemic linked to the new coronavirus.

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