{"id":22969,"date":"2021-09-04T13:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T17:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22969"},"modified":"2021-09-06T10:26:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T14:26:37","slug":"britains-brexit-minister-calls-for-significant-change-to-ni-protocol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22969","title":{"rendered":"Britain’s Brexit Minister Calls For ‘Significant Change’ To NI Protocol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lord Frost renewed calls on Saturday for Brussels to accept a \u2018substantial and significant change\u2019 to the deal (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Britain’s Brexit minister has said the UK will not sweep away the Northern Ireland Protocol as he warned conflict over the deal risks creating \u201ccold mistrust\u201d with the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Frost renewed calls on Saturday for Brussels to accept a \u201csubstantial and significant change\u201d to the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The North is effectively kept in the EU\u2019s single market for goods by the protocol, which prevents a hard border on the island of Ireland but has created trade barriers with Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unionists have pressured for the abolition of the protocol, but Brussels has repeatedly rejected the UK government\u2019s plea to negotiate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the British-Irish Association conference in Oxford, Lord Frost said: \u201cThe stakes are high. The arguments can be bitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I worry this process is capable of generating a sort of cold mistrust between us and the EU which could spread across the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s holding back the potential for a new era of cooperation between like-minded states in a world which needs us to work together effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tory peer reiterated the UK\u2019s position that the \u201cthreshold\u201d for triggering Article 16 to effectively tear up parts of protocol has been met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he added: \u201cSome would like us to sweep all the existing arrangements away. That is not our position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is obvious there will always need to be a dedicated UK-EU treaty relationship covering Northern Ireland. It is a question of finding the right balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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