On Wednesday, the United Kingdom will announce a series of new requirements to completely reform the post-Brexit trade arrangements between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, thereby bringing itself into conflict with Brussels.

The Minister of the Cabinet Office, Lord David Frost, will outline a strategy in what officials call a “wholesale change” to eliminate the major impact on the Irish Sea trade border that came into effect in January. Partial inspection.

If the EU does not make concessions, the UK may suspend the Northern Ireland agreement in its Brexit agreement with the EU, and Frost will claim that the UK has the right to activate the priority clause of Article 16 in the agreement.

Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Michael Martin discussed Britain’s strategy on Tuesday, including proposals to change the way the agreement currently works.

“Johnson said all British-made goods should be able to enter Northern Ireland without inspection,” an EU official said.

Britain’s new position may anger Brussels.According to the terms Northern Ireland Agreement Johnson agreed in 2019 to avoid restoring the hard border on the island of Ireland, and all goods shipped from the UK to the region must comply with EU customs and agricultural regulations.

Frost described these arrangements as “unsustainable.” Tell members of Congress this week It is necessary to “significantly reduce or eliminate the obstacles created by the agreement,” he said, which hindered many British companies from trading with Northern Ireland.

The border of the Irish Sea angered the Conservative Brexitists and the pro-British unionist politicians in Northern Ireland, who described it as an insult to British sovereignty because it put the region on a regulatory track by foreign powers.

Frost’s proposal is expected to include the “honest box” approach, which means that companies whose products are only sold and used in Northern Ireland should be exempt from inspection of the Irish Sea border.

According to people familiar with the matter, the UK also hopes that Brussels will agree to a double standards system that allows products that comply with British rules to circulate freely in Northern Ireland along with products that comply with EU requirements, as long as they are marked for use only in the region. In the case of understanding the proposal.

Another part of the proposal is expected to seek to eliminate any role of the European Commission or the European Court of Justice in the operation of the Northern Ireland agreement.

Due to the impact on trade, the UK is also expected to argue that it has reached the threshold to trigger the coverage mechanism of Article 16 of the Protocol.???

People familiar with the matter said the government will not take immediate action through the trigger mechanism, but reserves the right to do so.

Frost’s proposal seems to directly contradict the EU’s proposal. adhere to Told the United Kingdom that the group would not [Northern Ireland] protocol”.

Johnson told Martin on Tuesday that “the way the agreement works is causing major disruptions to the people of Northern Ireland.”

After the two leaders spoke, Downing Street stated that the UK would “fully” protect the Good Friday Agreement-which means that the union and the nationalist community need to be agreed.

Downing Street added that the British Prime Minister “stated that the EU must show pragmatism and need to find solutions to deal with the serious challenges posed by the agreement.”

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Frost will brief the British Parliament on the new strategy of the agreement on Wednesday, and will talk to Maros Sefcovic, the vice chairman of the committee responsible for EU-UK relations on Tuesday.

A British official said: “We are eager to see a constructive and consensus approach to quickly resolve the outstanding issues in the agreement, but everyone knows that a radical change in the approach is needed to do this.”

Before the deadline for a series of new trade arrangements at the end of September, Frost’s paper will lay the foundation for another round of intense negotiations with the European Union.

At that time, the so-called grace period — a temporary exemption from paperwork to facilitate smooth trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland — will expire on many products, including frozen meat.