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EU ‘very concerned’ by UK plan to break divorce treaty

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LONDON: Britain plunged Brexit trade talks into crisis on Wednesday by explicitly acknowledging it could break international law by ignoring some parts of its European Union divorce treaty, prompting a rapid rebuke from the EU’s chief executive.


Brushing aside warnings from Brussels that breaching the treaty would prevent any trade deal being struck, London said in the proposed legislation that it would ignore parts of the Withdrawal Agreement, which was only signed in January.


The Internal Market Bill spells out that certain provisions are “to have effect notwithstanding inconsistency or incompatibility with international or other domestic law”.


The government has said international law would be broken “in a very specific and limited way”. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, promptly tweeted that she was “very concerned” about the British government’s intentions.


“This would break international law and undermines trust. Pacta sunt servanda = the foundation of prosperous future relations,” she said. The Latin phrase, meaning “agreements must be kept”, is a basic principle of international law. John Major, a former Conservative prime minister, warned the government that “if we lose our reputation for honouring the promises we make, we will have lost something beyond price that may never be regained”.


The bill’s publication, on the day the EU’s chief negotiator arrived in London for a new round of trade talks, suggested to some that Prime Minister Boris Johnson might be trying to goad the bloc into storming out of those negotiations. But EU sources said they would not seek a suspension.


Although EU officials expressed dismay, one said that giving up on the negotiations “would only play into the UK game”.


‘KAMIKAZE THREAT’


Johnson told parliament the bill was “a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations” of the Withdrawal Agreement’s Northern Ireland protocol that could threaten peace in the British province.


The bill, if approved, would give ministers the power to ignore parts of that protocol by modifying the form of export declarations and other exit procedures. But the list of specific agreements that might be ignored includes not only provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol but also “any other provision of the EU Withdrawal Agreement” and “any other EU law or international law”.


The bill says Britain may ‘disapply’ provisions including one that relates to Northern Ireland and state aid. Johnson’s team see state aid as crucial for ensuring they can incubate new global technology firms and help “level up” parts of Britain. Johnson’s spokesman said the EU divorce deal was like no other treaty and had been “agreed at pace in the most challenging possible political circumstances”.


Opponents accused him of blatant hypocrisy after promising before December’s election that he had an “oven-ready deal”.


The bill will be debated in both chambers of parliament and require their approval before becoming law. Britain quit the EU in January but has remained part of its single market, largely free of trade barriers, under a status quo agreement that expires in December.


— Reuters


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