Tag Archives: Article 16

This afternoon.

Tony Connelly of RTÉ News reported that the European Union is likely to challenge on legal grounds any move by the UK to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Via RTE News:

Although the UK government has repeatedly threatened to trigger Article 16, saying the conditions have already been met, the European Commission does not believe that to be the case, and would challenge any triggering of the article on legal grounds.

While details have not been shared with member states, it is understood the European Commission is preparing a hierarchy of responses should London trigger Article 16.

“The commission is internally of the view that Article 16 could happen at any time, that it hasn’t gone away, that it’s a very serious possibility,” says one diplomat familiar with preparations.

It is understood the European Commission is working on a twin-track approach, on the one hand bringing forward new proposals that would ease the implementation of the protocol, while on the other hand preparing a response to an Article 16 move

EU likely to challenge any move to trigger Article 16 (RTÉ)

Graphic:  @MillsSheehy and @melissaittoo

This morning.

Location, anyone?

Greater Shankill Coalition?

Previously: Ursula Regrets

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

This morning.

Further to the European Commission’s decision to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol without consulting Dublin….

Via RTÉ News:

[EC President Ursula von der Leyen said] “The bottom line is that mistakes were made in the process leading up to the decision and I deeply regret that. But in the end we got it right.

“I can reassure you that my commission will do its utmost to protect the peace of Northern Ireland, just as it has done throughout the entire Brexit process.”

…she strongly defended the EU’s decision to negotiate vaccine doses as one bloc, instead of individual member states going it alone.

“I cannot even imagine what would have happened if just a handful of big players, big member states had rushed to it and everyone else had been left empty-handed,” she told MEPs….

Hmm.

EC chief ‘deeply regrets’ mistakes over Article 16 (RTÉ)

Previously: I Von Der Who It Was

RollingNews

Gulp.

This morning.

Scrap useless Northern Ireland Protocol, urges Foster, as Johnson threatens EU (Arlene Foster, Daily Telegraph)

Meanwhile…

Yesterday: Unfettered

Meanwhile…

This afternoon.

UK’s House of Commons.

Mr Johnson was answering questions from the DUP’s Ian Paisley who asked what he was going to do when he realises the EU, as Mr Paisley said, will do nothing to help Northern Ireland.

Mr Johnson said he “utterly shares the frustration” of how the EU Commission seemed to call to use the protocol in such a way as to “impose a border contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.

He said: “we will do everything we need to do to, whether legislatively or indeed by invoking Article 16 of the protocol to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea” and businesses can continue “unfettered between Northern Ireland and the rest of this country”.

Johnson says UK is prepared to invoke Article 16 ‘if necessary’ (RTÉ)

Yesterday: I Von Der Who It Was

 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

This afternoon.

Who triggered Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol without consulting Dublin?

Via Tony Connelly at RTÉ News:

…Several well-placed sources are of the firm view that the text was drafted by an official within the UK Task Force, ie, Michel Barnier’s team.

…The sources say this was not a collective effort by the Task Force, and that Barnier himself, and his chief advisers who were involved in both the Withdrawal Agreement and the recently concluded trade negotiations, were not in the loop.

As such, the belief is that the individual who drafted the text did so at the direction of Ms von der Leyen’s cabinet.

However, another senior Commission source strongly denies this suggestion…

…Whoever was involved at the last minute on Friday, the first Dublin found out about the paragraph was when it broke in the media, around 4pm Irish time. Senior officials in the Department of the Taoiseach had been working on the travel issue when phones began going off…

The vaccines, the Commission and the NI Protocol: What went wrong? (Tony Connelly, RTE)

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