UK tones down threats in N Ireland trade spat with EU

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UK tones down threats in N Ireland trade spat with EU

2021-11-17 23:49 Last Updated At：11-18 00:00

Britain’s top Brexit official lowered the temperature in the U.K.’s trade feud with the European Union on Wednesday, saying he believes it is possible to reach agreement with the bloc.

Chief U.K. negotiator David Frost said there were still “gaps” between the two sides, but added: “I’m glad there’s ambition on the EU side...I think it can be done.”

“Whether it will be done is a different question,” Frost added during a visit to Belfast to update political leaders on U.K.-EU talks aimed at resolving differences over Northern Ireland trade.

Negotiations have dragged on for a month, with Britain threatening to suspend parts of the legally binding divorce agreement between the two sides if no solution is found soon.

Frost said triggering an emergency break clause known as Article 16 “is a very real option for us” if there is no deal. But he added that “it’s certainly our preference to try to resolve it without using Article 16.”

Article 16 lets either side suspend portions of the Brexit agreement in extreme circumstances. A move by Britain to use it would trigger EU retaliation and could spiral into a trade war between the 27-nation bloc and its increasingly estranged former member.

Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. and shares a border with EU member Ireland. Under the Brexit deal agreed before the U.K. left the bloc’s economic structures at the end of 2020, it remains inside the EU’s tariff-free single market for goods, to ensure there is an open border on the island of Ireland — a key pillar of Northern Ireland’s peace process.

That has created a new customs border in the Irish Sea for goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K., even though they are part of the same country.

It has also brought red tape for businesses, and has angered Northern Ireland’s British Unionists, who say the checks undermine Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K. and destabilize the delicate political balance on which peace rests.

The Democratic Unionist Party, which leads Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government, is demanding the agreement be scrapped, though many businesses simply want the new trade arrangements to work more smoothly.

The EU has agreed to make changes to the deal, offering to reduce checks on food, plants and animals entering Northern Ireland by as much as 80% and to cut paperwork for transport companies in half.

Britain is demanding the EU go farther and remove its top court from its role in resolving any disputes over the agreement — an idea the bloc flatly rejects.

Frost and his EU counterpart, Maros Sefcovic, are due to meet Friday to assess the state of the talks.

Follow all AP stories on post-Brexit developments at https://apnews.com/hub/Brexit.

EU, Britain and Spain say significant progress made in talks on post-Brexit status of Gibraltar

2024-04-12 23:26 Last Updated At：23:31

MADRID (AP) — British and Spanish foreign ministers said a new round of talks held Friday over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain’s exit from the European Union were productive and significant progress was made.

The meeting was between Spain's José Manuel Albares, Britain’s David Cameron and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo also attended. It was the first time representatives from the four areas had come together for talks on the issue.

In a statement after the meeting, the parties said "discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved.

“General political lines have been agreed (on), including on airport, goods and mobility. Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the EU-UK Agreement,” it added.

All sides are eager to clinch a deal before European elections in June.

Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. Talks on a deal to ensure people and goods can keep flowing over the Gibraltar-Spain border have made halting progress in the 19 rounds of negotiations so far, but both Spanish and U.K. officials have recently expressed optimism about a deal.

In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the EU. The tiny territory on Spain's southern tip depends greatly on access to the EU market for its 34,000 inhabitants.

Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. Relations concerning the Rock, as it is popularly referred to in English, have had their ups and downs over the centuries.

A major sticking point has been who controls Gibraltar’s airport, which under the proposed free-movement deal would be an external border of the EU. The U.K. and Gibraltar have resisted Spain’s insistence that Spanish border officials be based at the airport, which is also home to a Royal Air Force base.

The British Foreign Office said Thursday that while it did not expect a final agreement Friday, "getting senior political figures from the UK, European Commission, Spain and Gibraltar in one room is significant.”

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless reported from London.