British House of Commons votes to agree on Brexit dispute

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MEPs voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for a mechanism that would give Northern Ireland’s regional parliament a say in how new EU rules are applied in the UK part of the country. 515 MPs voted in favour, only 29 voted against.

The provision put to the vote is part of the “Windsor Framework” that was sealed in late February by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. With the addition to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, the long-running dispute over the Brexit rules for the British provinces has been settled.

The fact that Sunak was able to overcome the opposition of his own Conservative Party and the Northern Ireland Protestant Party DUP is considered a major success. His party friends and former government leaders, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, were also against him. Sunak’s victory is likely to have put a damper on Johnson’s ambitions to return to the top of the government.

However, the rejection by the DUP is likely to cause headaches for the prime minister. The party has been blocking the formation of a regional government in Northern Ireland for months. According to the 1998 peace agreement, the so-called Good Friday Agreement, this must always consist of the two largest parties, the Catholic and the Protestant.

There are no signs yet that the stalemate in the province will be broken. In case of doubt, a new election must be called. However, this could also play into the hands of the Catholic Republican party Sinn Fein. It aims to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland and emerged as the strongest party in the last election.

The Northern Ireland Protocol was negotiated as part of the Brexit deal. It stipulates that the customs border between Great Britain and the EU runs in the Irish Sea. This should prevent the need to introduce controls between British Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland and reignite the conflict between the mostly Catholic supporters of the Irish union and the predominantly Protestant supporters of the union with Great Britain.

But the regulations also brought difficulties, for example when sending packages, medicines and taking pets. Some Protestants felt cut off from Britain and called for change. These requirements were taken into account in the “Windsor Framework”.

(SDA)

Source: Blick