The dominant issue in UK/EU relations in the coming months is going to be Northern Ireland. The UK is trying to ‘sandpaper’ down the protocol to lessen its impact on the ground in Northern Ireland. But the EU is resisting, pointing out that the UK signed up to the deal in the first place.
In an interview in this week’s Spectator David Frost admits that ‘The problem we’ve got is that the boundary for trade purposes is proving more of a deterrent to trade and more of a generation of trade diversion than many people expected.’
Frost’s deliberate use of the phrase ‘diversion’ is significant. Why, because trade diversion is one of the things that allows for the use of Article 16, which enables one side to unilaterally set aside the protocol.
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