EU may lift ban on British sausage to sweeten Northern Ireland deal | Britain’s exit from the European Union

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The European Union will seek to improve its package of proposals for post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland by lifting a ban on British-made sausages.

The European Union Commissioner on Brexit, Maros Shevsowicz, will present four research papers on Wednesday on how to improve the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The large package will cover a range of issues, including the availability of approved medicines in the rest of the UK, inspections of meat, dairy and plants, and customs facilities.

It would include a proposed “national identity” exemption for British sausages from the European Union’s ban on ready-made meat from a third country, the sources said.

Northern Ireland’s institutions would also be given a stronger voice in Brussels to deal with the democratic deficit caused by the region remaining within the single market but without a say in the legislation.

The issue of sausages and other deli meats has become an issue of mantra for Boris Johnson, who has said he will do “whatever it takes” to ensure people in Northern Ireland retain access.

Ministers have taken advantage of this to highlight the imbalance in the protocol, which the UK government says distorts trade and undermines union societies’ sense of identity.

During a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in July, Johnson told reporters: “Imagine if the bratwurst could not be moved from Dortmund to Düsseldorf due to the jurisdiction of an international court – you think it is quite unusual.”

Prime Minister and Brexit Secretary David Frost has repeatedly threatened to trigger Article 16 by suspending parts of the protocol unless there is a thorough renegotiation.

Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, gave the prime minister a boost in his demand for a full renegotiation Thursday night. While he told the BBC that the US president was concerned about the risk to stability posed by the potential failure of the British government and Brussels to reach a compromise in the coming weeks, he failed to support the EU’s position that the protocol should not be subject. Major renegotiation.

He told the BBC: “The Northern Ireland Protocol has been agreed between the EU and the UK, and our view is that both sides should work together in a constructive way to find an agreement and a way forward.”

“Without something like the Northern Ireland Protocol and with the possibility of a return of the difficult border between NI and the Republic of Ireland, we would have a grave risk to the stability and sanctity of the Good Friday Agreement, and this is a significant concern for the United States.”

The European Union has said it will not renegotiate the basics of the protocol, which in effect keeps Northern Ireland in the bloc’s single market and draws a customs border under the Irish Sea to avoid a difficult border on the island of Ireland.

More controversially, the UK has sought to remove the European Court of Justice from its role in EU law enforcement in Northern Ireland, and to have a “dual recognition” system that would allow goods of different standards for Brussels and the UK to trade freely side by side. the side. Goods that do not comply with EU rules will be clearly classified as ‘NI only’.

While the European Union would not be able to swallow those proposals, the expectation in Whitehall is that Shaivovich’s proposals will be substantive and not easily rejected.

Speaking this week, Shivovich told an audience in Dublin that he hoped the political rhetoric on the issue would be toned down. “I think the package of practical solutions that we put on the table would be attractive.”

Frost suggested there was a short chance of a deal once the EU proposals were put forward. “We need short, intense negotiations, and when I say short, I mean weeks, three weeks,” he said.

Both sides want to reach an agreement by the end of the year. Sources indicated that even if an Article 16 notice is sent in November, talks may continue to see if a replacement is within reach.

Diplomatic sources said that the risk to the smooth running of the talks is the strained relations between the two sides on a range of other issues that diplomatic sources said are at risk of “bleeding” in the Northern Ireland talks.

On Friday, France’s Minister for EU Affairs, Clement Boone, mocked a Daily Mail headline suggesting that French fishermen would close UK ports before Christmas due to no permits for EU ships to be issued to coastal waters on the south coast of England and around Jersey. . But he also reissued France’s threat of retaliation through the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and, bilaterally, over the UK’s position on fishing access.

Boone said, “Reduce supplies [of electricity to Jersey] Possible, but cutting power to every Jersey resident this winter is something that won’t happen and something I don’t want.

They wreaked havoc with Britain’s exit from the European Union. It is their choice and their failure, not ours. It was a poor choice, and we see that today. You will not be able to solve the problems of Christmas turkey shortage by creating problems for our hunters…”

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