UK-EU "Withdrawal Without Agreement" Crisis Again Submits Bill for Prime Minister to Rebel

UK-EU "Withdrawal Without Agreement" Crisis Again Submitted Bill for Prime Minister to Disobey Agreement September 19, 6:21

The United Kingdom, which withdrew from the EU = European Union in January, is continuing negotiations with the EU with the aim of concluding a free trade agreement, but it is having a difficult time.

Under these circumstances, there is growing concern that the confrontation with the EU over the bill submitted by Prime Minister Johnson to Congress this month will intensify, and negotiations will break down, further damaging the economy.

Britain's Johnson administration has submitted a bill to Parliament this month, including a sneak peek at Britain's Northern Ireland deal, out of an agreement with the EU when it left in January, and deliberation continues. ..

On the 14th, Prime Minister Johnson insisted on the legitimacy of the bill in parliament as a safety measure to facilitate domestic logistics in the event of an emergency.

Britain is continuing negotiations with the EU on free trade agreements and other matters toward the beginning of the year when the transition period after withdrawal ends, and the deadline for negotiations on the 15th of next month, which he showed himself behind Prime Minister Johnson's strong stance, is ahead. It is believed that the aim is to advance the difficult negotiations to the advantage.

However, the EU has strongly opposed and called for the withdrawal of the clause that violates the agreement by the end of this month, saying it violates international law, and Chairman Von der Leyen said, "The agreement was approved by both parliaments. It is a thing and cannot be changed unilaterally. "

If the conflict becomes more intense and negotiations such as free trade agreements break down, new tariffs will be imposed on both trades from the beginning of the year when the transition period ends, and it will only hurt the economy depressed by the new coronavirus. , Concerns are growing.

Northern Ireland border control is the root of the problem

The bill addresses the most difficult issue of Britain's Northern Ireland border control in the UK-EU negotiations that lasted about two and a half years over the terms of withdrawal.

In Northern Ireland, conflicts continued for nearly 30 years until the 1990s over the pros and cons of separation from Britain, killing more than 3,000 people.

For this reason, in order to avoid the formation of a physical border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which is a member state of the EU, Northern Ireland will follow EU rules regarding the movement of goods even after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom. Both sides agreed.

However, the bill states that if negotiations such as a free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU break down, the rules will be decided by the United Kingdom, and the agreement between the two sides will be broken.

Confusion over Brexit continues

Confusion has continued between Britain and the EU over withdrawal.

The UK and the EU were quiet and once agreed on the terms of the withdrawal, but did not get the consent of the British Parliament, and former Prime Minister May repeatedly requested that the withdrawal, which was originally supposed to be March last year, be postponed.

The EU has granted the postponement twice, but former Prime Minister May resigned because he was unable to bring the UK together, resulting in a draft agreement floating in the air.

After that, in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Johnson, who took a hard-line stance of "willing to withdraw without agreement," took office, and negotiations on a withdrawal agreement began again.

Then, in October last year, a new agreement was reached, and after the third postponement of withdrawal, the United Kingdom officially left the EU in January.

After the withdrawal, this was a transitional period to avoid sudden changes, and in March, negotiations such as a free trade agreement were started to decide the subsequent relationship, but the UK and the EU were in the position. In addition to the large gap, the negotiation schedule has been delayed due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and the deadline for negotiations is approaching without producing sufficient results.

Under these circumstances, the confusion has deepened further as the British Johnson administration submitted a bill to Parliament that violated the agreement with the EU at the time of withdrawal.

Successive prime ministers who "shame the country" repelled one after another

There has been a lot of criticism in Britain over the bill submitted by the Johnson administration.

The incumbent minister in charge of Northern Ireland, Luis, admitted in parliament that "it would violate international law, albeit in a limited way," and the ruling and opposition lawmakers said, "The trust of the international community will be lost." Voice is rising.

On the 16th, Prime Minister Johnson agreed with the ruling party members who oppose the amendment of a part of the bill, but it does not remove the content that defies the agreement with the EU.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Major and Labor Party Prime Minister Blair jointly contributed to the newspaper, harshly criticizing the Johnson administration's response as "shameful to the country," as well as former Prime Minister May and former Prime Minister Cameron. It is an unusual situation in which successive prime ministers have been repulsing one after another, such as showing strong concerns.