The inconsistency of the Brexiteers’ notion of sovereignty is now all too clear. Reports suggest that the Prime Minister has reached an agreement with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol, indicating that the UK government now accepts the role of the European Court of Justice. A deal along those lines would mean the government has finally given up on a disagreement that has caused huge political tensions in Westminster, and economic damage to Northern Ireland. The government claims it’s their own plan, and somehow, in the name of perpetuating the pain, it’s all been made worth it. sovereignty of the union,
The sovereignty argument has been at the heart of much Conservative post-Brexit policy, and at the center of that is the Northern Ireland Protocol. Boris Johnson once promised there would be an Irish maritime border over his dead body, before the signing of the agreement that created the Irish maritime border. In the mess that followed, the EU sue ukwhile UK blame europe,
The government’s plan proposes “Green and Red Channels”, where goods going from the UK to Northern Ireland are treated differently from goods going to the single market. But in reality, the arrangement is a rebranding of May’s deal on Northern Ireland. what was it calledsurrender dealThat time has now been reappraised by Brexiters as a British victory.
And yet – in 2021, the European Commission itself proposed plans to differentiate between goods going to Northern Ireland and the single market. included in the proposal variety of policies To enhance operations, especially with respect to data-sharing and border control posts (BCPs).
that deal was immediately rejected by Many hard-line Brexiters, Since then, the UK has accepted these offers And now presents the plan as his own plan.
The government’s negotiations with the EU have been fraught with twists and turns. During earlier talks, Brexiteers argued for the Malthouse Agreement, a proposal that Prime Minister May negotiate a free trade deal for Northern Ireland, made possible by as yet undisclosed technology. The idea had already been rejected by the EU when No10 proposed it. Likewise, all of the Johnson government’s proposals are nowhere to be found. And now the UK has moved to a policy that the EU recommended in 2020. Equality: “We don’t insist on exact names, we just want to make sure the system works.”
The British approach to negotiation has been to reject whatever the EU proposes, suggest a set of impractical ideas and then eventually agree to accept what was originally proposed by the EU . After you do that, you make it part of a plan, and that was the UK’s idea.
And at the heart of it all is a reflexive disdain for the European Court of Justice. David Frost has argued that if the court retained its powers of inspection the protocol will not survive, The European Union has rejected any idea ecj monitoring should be removed.
Finally, and essentially, the UK has a “sleeve lengthArrangements on the role of the court, something that is already set out in the current protocol. Under this new deal, the ability to Refer cases to ECJ Will remain supported by international law, ECJ can also impose monetary penalty for Britain.
The hypocrisy of British “Cakeism” is best exemplified by Steve Baker. Baker, once chairman of the European Research Group, a Tory party europhobe grouprebel leader”, who roused May to defend British sovereignty. At the time, he declined any role for ECJ. Baker is now Secretary for Northern Ireland, and the UK has accepted the role of the ECJ. final arbiter On any dispute in Northern Ireland. Essentially, the role of the ECJ”final arbiter of EU lawcontinues, breaking down UK and Steve Baker, Red line, The role of the ECJ has remained essentially unchanged.
Yet, less than two weeks before any sign of agreement, the fad assured the backbench Britain’s sovereignty would remain intact and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris promised that any deal “grow union, The emptiness of ideological commitment to sovereignty is very clearly visible in the dramatic political inconsistencies of the government.
unelected and polling behindSunak has put her reputation on the line when she finds protocol issue resolved by april, Under enormous political pressure, he has candidly accepted that the only practical, practical and beneficial solution to the protocol issue is the one first proposed by the EU nearly three years ago.
Throughout, dogma and partisan politics have been placed ahead of the concerns of Northern Irish citizens. The weaponization of sovereignty has seen conservatives turn full circle, only to accept defeat rather than hypocritically continue to staunchly defend their own misconceptions.
Dan Sutton is a Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Manchester.
Dr Christos Courtelis is Lecturer in European and International Politics at Loughborough University