Northern Ireland is in crisis.
The province of the United Kingdom is the scene of tensions because of post-Brexit controls.
The British government must clarify its intentions on Tuesday on this subject.
Due to the political stalemate in Northern Ireland and the disruption in trade between the province and the rest of the United Kingdom, London wants to renegotiate in depth the Northern Irish protocol concluded with the European Union, which is only said ready for adjustments.
Soon a unilateral decision?
After having raised the threat of unilateral actions to override the agreement, the British government must present its "reasoning" on Tuesday, according to Downing Street, through the voice of its head of diplomacy Liz Truss.
According to the British press, this could take the form of a bill allowing the government to unilaterally suspend parts of the Northern Irish protocol by invoking its Article 16. A passage would take weeks and set the stage for a long period of crisis. between the EU and London, but also in Northern Ireland.
Violation of international law
The protocol "doesn't work for businesses, doesn't work for anyone in Northern Ireland," Britain's Minister for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, told SkyNews on Tuesday.
“We will do what is necessary to ensure that products can be brought to Northern Ireland in the way they should be able to be brought to Northern Ireland from Great Britain under the internal market of the UK,” he added.
For the EU, knowingly going back on this signed treaty would amount to violating international law, and the United Kingdom would expose itself to severe trade retaliation.
BoJo wants to 'fix' the protocol
On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed the government did not want to "remove" the protocol, but "fix" it.
He said he "would like" to resolve the issue "in a consensual way with our friends and partners" from the EU, but added that the UK also needed "assurance" of a "legislative solution". the same time ".
The Conservative leader was speaking during a visit to Northern Ireland, where he tried to convince the various political parties to find a compromise and "get back to work".
Because 11 days after the historic victory of the Republicans of Sinn Fein in the local elections, the Northern Irish institutions are at a standstill.
Blocking of the Local Assembly
Unionists in the DUP refuse to participate in the local executive, which was supposed to be shared under the 1998 peace agreement that ended three decades of bloody conflict, known as the "Troubles".
And they blocked the local Assembly by refusing to designate a new candidate.
Viscerally attached to the union with Great Britain, the unionists thus intend to protest against the Northern Irish protocol, the agreement signed between London and Brussels to answer the delicate question of the border between British Northern Ireland and the European Republic of Ireland after Brexit.
This text creates a de facto customs border with Great Britain and threatens, according to them, the place of the province within the United Kingdom.
Ireland worried
At the heart of the political tussle, the leader of the unionist DUP party, Jeffrey Donaldson, is demanding "acts" from the British government to settle the problems affecting the Northern Irish economy and relations with Great Britain.
"I want to see the government enact legislation that will provide the solution we need," he said on Monday.
Sinn Fein Republicans strongly oppose a British bill.
A neighbor of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, is also worried about the consequences of a possible unilateral British decision.
“Any unilateral action is harmful and cannot help,” Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin tweeted on Monday, calling for a solution through negotiation.
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