Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 4 (Xinhua) -- German and Irish foreign ministers on the 3rd condemned the British government's proposed amendment to the "Northern Ireland Protocol" bill for unilaterally undermining the "Brexit" agreement.
Data map: On January 29, 2020 local time, the European Parliament approved the "Brexit" agreement.
The picture shows the members present to say goodbye after voting.
Photo courtesy of China News Agency issued by the European Union
The British "Observer" published on the 3rd a joint commentary published by German Foreign Minister Annalena Belberke and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.
There is no legal or political justification for Britain to unilaterally undermine an international agreement signed only two years ago, the article said.
The protocol amendment bill proposed by the British government will not solve the problem, but will create a series of new uncertainties and make the problem more complicated.
"Unfortunately, the British government did not choose to accept these proposals with sincerity. Instead of taking the road of cooperation and dialogue, the UK chose unilateralism," the article said.
The UK and the EU signed the "Brexit" agreement in 2019. In addition to stipulating the rules that should be followed for economic and trade cooperation between the two sides after the UK leaves the European single market and customs union, they also signed the "Northern Ireland Protocol", agreeing that the Northern Ireland region will maintain its relationship with EU member Ireland. The cross-border flow of people and goods is smooth, there are no border inspection facilities, and the EU economic and trade rules continue to be followed to safeguard the results of the 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Agreement.
However, in order to prevent goods from other parts of the UK from bypassing EU supervision and entering the EU market via Northern Ireland, the protocol stipulates that goods from England, Scotland and Wales must undergo border inspection when they are transported into Northern Ireland.
Opponents argue that this means creating a customs border in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
The British government made a compromise to reach a "Brexit" agreement, but after achieving "Brexit", it continued to express "repentance".
Despite repeated warnings from the European Union, the British government formally proposed amendments to the Northern Ireland Protocol earlier in June for parliamentary consideration.
The lower house of parliament passed the bill in its second reading on June 27 and is scheduled to discuss it again on July 13.
(Li Yannan)