It is about Northern Ireland’s place in the British Union. When the British left the EU, border controls were introduced between Northern Ireland and the rest of the British Union. It was to avoid physical border controls between Northern Ireland and the EU country Ireland on the Irish island. Northern Ireland thus remained in the EU’s customs union. The border controls have made it both more expensive and more difficult to trade between Northern Ireland on the one hand, and England, Scotland and Wales on the other. Certain goods have been missing from Northern Irish shop shelves, and dissatisfaction has grown. At the border into Northern Ireland. Photo: PAUL FAITH / AFP In addition, the European Court of Justice still has power over Northern Ireland and the customs union as it functions there. It weakens British sovereignty in Northern Ireland, some believe. The new agreement In the agreement Rishi Sunak has now secured with the EU, two different control systems are introduced. One for goods only going to Northern Ireland and another for goods going to the EU country Ireland. The latter will be more extensive than the former, so that it will be easier to trade between the various parts of the British Union. VAT and subsidies in Northern Ireland are to be determined in London, not Brussels. And perhaps most importantly; Belfast gets the right to stop new EU laws from applying in Northern Ireland. So what does this new deal mean for Northern Irish and British politics? Northern Ireland’s political crisis Northern Ireland has been without a provincial government for over a year. The then First Minister resigned in protest against the Brexit agreement. He belongs to the Democratic Unionist Party DUP, which continues the protest and refuses to sit in a new government until the problem is resolved. The Northern Irish Parliament building Stormont in Belfast. Photo: PAUL FAITH / AFP The party has made clear demands on Rishi Sunak. Sunak has wanted to fulfill them as far as possible in order to resolve the political crisis in Northern Ireland. The EU has shown understanding of this need. Northern Ireland has a long history of civil war, and the fear that unrest and violence will flare up again is a backdrop to the case. April marks the 25th anniversary of the Northern Irish peace. It looks bad to celebrate a peace deal that doesn’t work. The Northern Ireland provincial government is a direct consequence of the peace agreement, and there is strong pressure to get a government up and running as soon as possible. The peace agreement requires that power in Northern Ireland be shared between the largest unionist party and the largest nationalist party. Thus, the party that wants Northern Ireland to be reunited with Ireland cannot form a government without the party that wants to continue as part of the British Union. In other words: the DUP’s reaction to today’s new Brexit agreement determines how successful the agreement will be. Sunak’s political problem Can we still call the deal a victory for Rishi Sunak? Well. It is described as a gigantic game of chance. Admittedly, he has achieved things in the negotiations with the EU that none of the British prime ministers before him have managed. It is considered to be a feat. Sunak has had few of these until now, and this one is important for his political reputation. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons. Photo: JESSICA TAYLOR / AFP But: There has been strong opposition in his conservative party to scrapping a law that will give the British the right to break the agreement with the EU. The former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been at the forefront of the warnings against Sunak against giving up the bill that has been passed in the Lower House and is in process in the Upper House. This wing of the Conservative Party is terrified of undermining British sovereignty, which for them was a key point of Brexit. They are worried that Sunak is selling this sovereignty cheaply to the EU. It could become a problem for Sunak when the agreement has to go through a vote in parliament. Support from the opposition Both Labor and the Liberal Democrats say they will support the agreement, and it is expected that a majority of the elected representatives from the Conservative Party will do the same. But without the DUP’s support, the deal is worth little. And the last thing Sunak needs when he has to deal with a wave of strikes, inflation and empty store shelves going forward, is a loud opposition in his own ranks. The next major task for Sunak will therefore be to sell this agreement to the DUP and its own party colleagues. It is about keeping the British Union together. The job is far from over.
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Is the Northern Ireland problem solved now? – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
