The UK will implement the withdrawal agreement reached with the EU, a spokesman for PM Boris Johnson said on Monday, adding that proposed changes to be implemented in domestic law are simply “limited clarifications.”
The comments came after a Financial Times report claiming that domestic British legislation was expected to kill the legal force of parts of the deal in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs.
The government responded by saying that it was fully committed to implementing both the withdrawal agreement and the protocol relating to Northern Ireland.
“We are taking limited and reasonable steps to clarify specific elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol in domestic law to remove any ambiguity and to ensure the government is always able to deliver on its commitments to the people of Northern Ireland,” Reuters quoted Johnson’s spokesman as saying.
Brussels warned on Monday that there would be no trade deal if the UK tried to tinker with the Brexit treaty.
“I trust the British government to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law & prerequisite for any future partnership,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.
I trust the British government to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law & prerequisite for any future partnership. Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is essential to protect peace and stability on the island & integrity of the single market.
The Northern Ireland protocol is “essential to protect peace and stability” on the island of Ireland and the integrity of the single market, she added.
Ireland will have “to wait and see” what unfolds in the proposed British legislation, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Monday.
“Is this political gamesmanship or is there really a piece of legislation that’s going to emerge this week, which is contrary to the withdrawal agreement?” the minister asked.
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