Doslovný záznam ze zasedání

Středa, 6. července 2022 - Štrasburk

12. Návrh zákona, kterým se jednostranně mění Protokol o Severním Irsku, předložený vládou Spojeného království a dodržování mezinárodního práva (rozprava)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Erklärungen des Rates und der Kommission zu dem Thema „Die einseitige Einbringung des Gesetzes über das Protokoll zu Nordirland durch die britische Regierung und die Achtung des Völkerrechts“ (2022/2744(RSP)).

Diese Aussprache findet unter denselben Rahmenbedingungen – Sitzplätze, Rede, blaue Karte – statt wie die vorhergehenden Aussprachen.

  Mikuláš Bek, President-in-Office of the Council. – Dear Mr President, honourable Members, it has not even been two years since the United Kingdom and the European Union entered into the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the consent and support of the European Parliament.

The Withdrawal Agreement and its Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is just over two and a half years old itself, is already at risk of being torn apart by the UK. The United Kingdom Government has proposed a law to unilaterally suspend the application of the protocol’s key provisions, and the bill is already advancing in the UK Parliament.

The Council is highly concerned about the situation. We remain fully united and mobilised to protect the citizens who benefit from the Withdrawal Agreement, to protect the Good Friday Agreement and to protect our single market. The European Parliament’s active engagement was of prime importance to bring the previous negotiations to a swift conclusion.

I trust that we will once again show our united front in the face of this unconstructive attitude by the United Kingdom. As always on Brexit, unity among Member States, but also among institutions, is our most precious asset. We need to send a clear signal to the UK Government. Let there be no doubt that the EU seeks to have a strategic, enduring and mutually beneficial partnership with the United Kingdom.

In the current geopolitical situation, the EU and the UK stand side-by-side in our response to Russia’s brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine. We are both peaceful democracies that insist on respecting international agreements. It is therefore unacceptable to take steps which violate international commitments. In the current circumstances, we must all hold ourselves to the highest standards, including respecting international agreements.

The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland was the solution agreed with the current UK Prime Minister’s government to protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions, and to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland while protecting the integrity of the EU single market.

The EU stands fully united in rejecting a renegotiation of the Protocol as it is the agreed solution to the challenge posed to the island of Ireland by the type of Brexit chosen by the UK. In years of intense negotiations between the two sides, no better solution was found.

The UK Government must return to working jointly to solve the practical issues already identified within the context of the Protocol. This is also what stakeholders in Northern Ireland expect. Recent trade figures show that the protocol is working. The GDP in Northern Ireland is growing faster than in the rest of the UK.

The EU and the UK share a common responsibility to demonstrate that, instead of starting artificial confrontations, they can find durable solutions by working together pragmatically and in full respect of international commitments. Our evolving partnership must be based on respecting existing international agreements and by foreseeable actions taken within the joint bodies, further building up mutual trust. That is what our citizens expect from democratic leaders and institutions.

  Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, Minister, honourable Members, first and foremost, I am grateful for the opportunity to address you today and provide an update on the latest development regarding the Protocol – Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Let me start by reaffirming that the European Union wishes to have a positive and stable relationship with the United Kingdom. We are partners facing the same global challenges where upholding the rule of law is imperative. And I think it was very well described by Minister Bek just a minute ago.

Our relationship must be, therefore, based on the agreements that both parties negotiated, agreed and ratified: the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Protocol protects the Good Friday Belfast Agreement in all its dimensions, avoids the hard border on the island of Ireland, while protecting the integrity of the island of Ireland and the integrity of the internal market, and respects the constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.

Let us not forget that the Protocol was the only joint solution found to protect the hard-earned gains of the peace process in Northern Ireland, while addressing the challenges created by Brexit and the type of Brexit chosen by the UK Government.

So we need to be realistic. No alternative solution has been found and it is not needed. From the very beginning, we have shown a lot of understanding for the practical difficulties in the implementation of the Protocol and we demonstrated that solutions can be found within its framework. This is what we did, for example, with our medicines package. It was adopted in record time. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for your crucial role in it.

We also proposed solutions in the customs and sanitary and phytosanitary areas in order to further facilitate trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We always insisted that we want to work towards joint solutions that are durable. Very importantly, we also made it clear that, whilst we stand ready to discuss facilitations, we will need firm guarantees as regards the protection of our internal market.

Throughout this time, we worked towards the joint outcome because only joint solutions would bring the legal certainty and predictability for the people and businesses in Northern Ireland. We made it clear that any unilateral action would only have the opposite effect, and it would erode trust between partners, which is the very basis for our work.

Despite all these efforts, the UK government tabled the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol Bill on 30 June. If adopted, this bill would disapply most provisions of the protocol, and this is unacceptable. There is no legal or political justification whatsoever for the UK to unilaterally change an international agreement.

First of all, there are other ways to solve the problems regarding the implementation of the Protocol together, and we proved that with our package of solutions we know how to do that.

Secondly, our interests and the other parties to the agreement are seriously harmed because this is about the conditions for Northern Ireland’s access to the EU’s internal market for goods. And it is simply legally and politically inconceivable that the UK Government decides these conditions unilaterally.

Let us not forget that the current trading arrangements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are not in line with the protocol because of the unilateral grace periods put in place by the UK Government.

The European Commission reacted in a proportionate and gradual manner. First of all, you will remember that we had paused legal action over the past year in order to create a constructive atmosphere to identify joint solutions. This bill goes against this spirit, and for that reason we have relaunched our legal action against the UK for not complying with key parts of the Protocol.

In parallel and further to extensive engagement with businesses in Northern Ireland, we have published in greater detail our model for the flexible implementation of the protocol, based on durable solutions within the Protocol.

In a nutshell, our solutions were to create an express lane for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. They would reduce sanitary and phytosanitary checks and controls by more than 80%. They would cut customs paperwork in half. They would offer simplified certification, a single three-page document for the whole lorryful of different goods filled only once a month. And they would allow even the movement of certain goods that would otherwise be restricted, such as chilled meat.

This demonstrates that a solution exists. And as you just heard a few minutes ago from the Czech presidency, the European Union is united in this view. And I really would like to thank the French and Czech Presidencies for expressing the position and unanimous support of the Member States so clearly. And I want to express my gratitude to the European Parliament for its support to this approach as well.

I would like to close, honourable Members, by underlining that our door remains open to the UK for dialogue in order to identify joint solutions forward within the framework of the protocol, based on the solutions I have just mentioned. It is now for the UK to walk through that door, and I sincerely believe that with political will and genuine commitment, solutions are still within reach.

  Seán Kelly, on behalf of the PPE Group. – A Uachtaráin, Commissioner, colleagues, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill marks a new low in relations between the EU and the UK. We mustn’t forget that the UK was a valued member of the European Union for 40 years and played a very constructive part. But breaching international law is just not acceptable, as Vice-President Šefčovič said. Also, it defies logic – because the protocol is working.

The majority of MLAs returned in the recent election are in favour of the protocol. The business people that I met in my capacity as rapporteur for the Trade Committee, the vast majority are in favour of the protocol and see the benefits of being in the single market of the European Union and the UK market.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting a good friend of mine, former MEP now Under—Secretary Vicky Ford, and we had a robust discussion. I pointed out to her that if green and red lanes are a solution, come and negotiate, and we can see – because nobody has been more flexible than our good friend Vice-President Šefčovič.

I appeal to Boris Johnson, the British Government, to give over this Fawlty Towers—like approach to politics, because if they don’t, there is a danger that Basil would be confused with Boris. Regardless of the outcome in the volatile situation in Number 10, there is only one solution – put this bill aside, come and negotiate and we can reach an agreement. That is what democrats always do.

  Pedro Marques, em nome do Grupo S&D. – Senhor Presidente, Senhor Vice-Presidente Šefčovič, não é raro neste Parlamento discutirmos a situação de países que infringem o direito internacional. O que é raro é que isso seja feito por uma das democracias mais antigas e respeitadas no mundo.

O desvario de um primeiro-ministro em queda não pode ser razão para quebrar o importante acordo que, com tanto custo, tinha sido possível alcançar. A agir assim, o Sr. Boris Johnson está a pôr em sério risco não apenas o acordo do Brexit, mas as relações entre o Reino Unido e a União Europeia. Está a pôr em risco a própria credibilidade do Reino Unido enquanto parceiro internacional. Mais, está até a pôr em risco, e isso é muito grave, os acordos de Sexta-Feira Santa, que trouxeram a paz à Irlanda do Norte.

Mais umas horas ou uns dias em Downing Street não justificam tudo. Boris Johnson tem que parar e tem que parar já.

  Nathalie Loiseau, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Mr President, I say to our dear British friends, we live in a time of anxiety: war has come back to Europe, inflation is growing and climate change has come into our lives. At such a time, we need to unite, not to be divided. We need to join forces, not to act unilaterally. We need to honour our commitments, not to breach them. And as always, we need to listen to the people.

What do people in Northern Ireland have to say? They elected a majority of MLAs who support the Northern Ireland Protocol, provided minor adjustments are made. This is precisely what the EU has offered. We all know there is a landing zone within the protocol. Today, the protocol is not the problem. Look at the numbers. Northern Ireland is faring better than the rest of the UK. There is no shortage, except for two essential goods: predictability and trust. The problem that Northern Ireland is facing, that the UK is facing, has a name. It is not the protocol. The name of the problem is Brexit and the type of Brexit which was chosen by the current British Government.

  Terry Reintke, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, what the UK Government is doing right now looks, unfortunately, more like a group of reckless, privileged people trying to distract from their own mistakes by breaking international law, rather than serious governing. What we actually urgently need is calm and constructive discussions on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol; to find practical solutions for the people on the ground, and not to play political games or to blackmail the other side.

To the people in the UK, I would like to say, rest assured that, despite all the difficulty and tension, this Parliament and the citizens in the European Union can still make a very clear difference between the UK Government and the people in the UK. We know that a majority of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly actually stand behind the protocol and want to find solutions. And we know that there are millions of people in the UK who want to have a close and strong relationship with the European Union, and we will continue to put all our efforts into making that possible.

  Geert Bourgeois, namens de ECR-Fractie. – Voorzitter, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en de Europese Unie zijn solidair verenigd in hun steun aan het Oekraïense volk. Tegelijkertijd is de Brexit echter nog altijd not done. Onze Britse vrienden weten dat we hun keuze respecteren, maar daar zijn consequenties aan verbonden. De integriteit van onze interne markt en de bescherming van onze consumenten zijn rode lijnen. We weten dat de EU zich flexibel en pragmatisch opstelt met het oktoberpakket van vicevoorzitter Šefčovič, maar het Noord-Ierse protocol en het terugtrekkingsakkoord moeten gehandhaafd blijven.

Ik stel vast dat beide partijen akkoord gaan met het principe van een express lane of green lane met betrekking tot goederen die alleen bestemd zijn voor de Noord-Ierse markt. Ik denk dat het op basis van dit principe mogelijk moet zijn om tot een akkoord te komen, op voorwaarde dat er sluitende garanties zijn dat de goederen alleen naar de Noord-Ierse markt gaan.

Ik vraag dus dat beide partijen daarover aan tafel gaan zitten en met goed verstand tot een akkoord komen, wat ons moet toelaten om verdere ambities te ontplooien: samenwerking inzake onderzoek en ontwikkeling, samenwerking in en rond de Noordzee, inzake energie, inzake CO2-opslag, zodat we kunnen werk maken van een duurzaam toekomstig partnerschap met onze aloude Britse vrienden.

  Chris MacManus, on behalf of The Left Group. – Mr President, a chairde, this debate is long overdue and one sought by The Left Group. The British Government are not only attacking the protocol; they are attacking the Good Friday Agreement. They must not succeed.

The north of Ireland has changed. People will not accept supremacy by regressive unionism from the DUP or their paramilitary allies. The protocol protects the north from the worst damage caused by Brexit. What the British Government cannot swallow is that the economy in the north is doing better than anywhere in Britain, but the illegal Protocol Bill is designed to drag the north down – the dual regulatory system would create an impossible bureaucracy for business.

Be clear: as he clings to his job, Boris Johnson will do anything. He systematically breaks international law. He undermines the Good Friday Agreement. He absolves the British military for crimes committed, denying grieving families the justice they deserve. He repeals the European Convention on Human Rights, the beating heart of the Good Friday Agreement. Britain is fast becoming a rogue state, acting unilaterally in the interests of its own elite, with no regard for the well—being of its people or the international rules—based order.

Unless Britain turns to legality, it deserves to fail, which is why Scottish people want to take control of their own future, and why a referendum on Irish unity, as provided for in the Good Friday Agreement, is increasingly on the agenda.

  David McAllister (PPE). – Mr President, the Northern Ireland Protocol bill tabled by the United Kingdom Government is a regrettable unilateral move. As it dis—applies core elements of the Protocol in Ireland and Northern Ireland, it creates more difficulties in Northern Ireland and undermines mutual trust. Unilateral actions deliberately contradicting an international agreement are not the way forward.

The Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol, was and is the necessary foundation for the EU—UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The European Union’s reaction to the Northern Ireland Protocol bill has been proportionate, firm and calm – and rightly so, Vice—President Šefčovič.

We want to have stable and positive relations with the United Kingdom based on our agreements, mutually negotiated, signed and ratified by the United Kingdom and the European Union. We remain partners with shared values. Therefore, I call on the UK Government to re—enter talks to facilitate the practical implementation of the Protocol. The Protocol is not the problem – it is part of the solution to a problem. The original problem is, and remains, Brexit.

  Thijs Reuten (S&D). – Mr President, Commission Vice-President, I thought the UK Prime Minister ‘got Brexit done’, but today we are not even sure how long he will be in office, while the UK Government is threatening to unilaterally rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr President, to the people in Britain I want to say, we here in Europe are committed to our friendship with you. This is not about rehashing debates of the past, this is about making Brexit work for all UK citizens. Is the Prime Minister of Britain really willing to break up international law, jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement and axe trust between the UK and its most important trading partner?

I urge the UK Government to step back from the abyss. Flexible solutions for the people in Northern Ireland exist within the Protocol, and Commission Vice-President Šefčovič has those solutions. All it takes for the UK Government is to act in good faith.

  Barry Andrews (Renew). – Mr President, Vice-President Šefčovič, in the UK, the stigma against breaking international law, domestic law and constitutional norms has been significantly eroded since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. The events of the last 24 hours demonstrate that for many, enough is enough.

Freedom House reported last year that it has been sixteen consecutive years of decline in global freedom. This matters because the pattern of decline has been gradual in most countries, and that’s why it is so important to call out the erosion of democratic norms at the earliest possible time.

The charge sheet against the UK is long. It was proroguing Parliament with the Internal Market Bill and now we have the Protocol Bill. Jonathan Jones described this as even more brazen than the Internal Market Bill and noted that the UK has shown the world that it is prepared to walk away from important treaty obligations on the flimsiest of pretexts.

In addition to that, despite what Minister Vicky Ford said yesterday, assuming she is still a minister, the European Convention on Human Rights is something the UK Government is proposing to walk away from, even though it is so firmly part of the Good Friday Agreement.

  Ciarán Cuffe (Verts/ALE). – A Uachtaráin, léiríonn na himeachtaí ó Londain go bhfuil muinín caillte ag muintir na Breataine ina rialtas, beirt airí sa rialtas sin ina measc. Tá níos fearr ná sin tuillte ag muintir an Tuaiscirt. Sáraíonn bille an Phrótacail dlí idirnáisiúnta, Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste, agus cuireann sé síocháin i dTuaisceart na hÉireann i mbaol.

Sa tréimhse éiginnte seo, caithfimid éisteacht agus oibriú le daoine i dTuaisceart na hÉireann. Caithfidh muintir Thuaisceart na hÉireann a todhchaí féin a shocrú agus caithfidh an Pharlaimint tacú leis sin.

  Anna Fotyga (ECR). – Mr President, Commissioner, it is for the first time in history that we try to implement the Withdrawal Agreement. With pain, and not all circumstances we were able to foresee while negotiating and signing it.

Surely, we did not foresee the vicious war so close to our borders, and necessity to focus on the security. I think there is room for compromise. Surely, the unilateral solutions are not the best ones. And I call on both sides to sit at the table and find this solution for the sake of future cooperation.

  Pernando Barrena Arza (The Left). – Mr President, with the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921, the British engineered a segregated statelet that denied the most basic rights to Irish nationals for decades. A system of social and political discrimination that sought to prevent their ever gaining proper representation and access to power.

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 put an end to that situation and ushered in a new era of democratic transformation and shared government between Unionist and nationalist. Legislation announced by Boris Johnson could put the Protocol at risk and, furthermore, he said that the UK would proceed unilaterally.

There is no question that this would endanger the Good Friday agreement. It would endanger governance on the island of Ireland and it would endanger the progress made over the last 24 years in the peace process.

As we know, Sinn Féin won the last elections, but the DUP, led by Jeffrey Donaldson, is refusing to share power. They are playing a bad loser’s role. It’s time for them to abide by, and implement, the full rule of democracy and for the European Commission to increase pressure on the British Government so the peace legacy remains intact.

  Danuta Maria Hübner (PPE). – Mr President, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is not a trivial set of adjustments, as Prime Minister Johnson described it; it is a near-complete unilateral rewrite through domestic law of a binding international treaty voluntarily entered into by the UK Government. This is a clear breach of international law.

The bill would grant UK ministers extraordinarily wide discretionary powers to implement their alternative to the protocol without negotiating with the European Union. Some of the so-called fixes would actively undermine the unique status of Northern Ireland, depriving it of the best of both worlds. We must remember that the protocol provides access to the EU internal market for the goods coming from Northern Ireland. The bill brings major risk to this access.

The UK Government needs to accept responsibility for the protocol and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. It is not too late to avoid new local elections in Northern Ireland and increased legal uncertainty.

  Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D). – Mr President, speaking as the European Parliament rapporteur for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, my message to the British Government is clear: there is no such thing as a unilateral change to a bilateral international agreement.

The bill announced in the House of Commons they say to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol is no more than a confession of political will to breach the international law commitments recently negotiated and agreed by Boris Johnson himself.

Instead, the British Government should engage constructively in discussing the concrete proposals made by Vice—President Šefčovič and the European Commission to introduce additional flexibility in the implementation of the protocol, as is the wish of the majority of the elected representatives in Northern Ireland.

But make no mistake: this line of action will have serious consequences, forcing the European Commission to launch legal actions against the UK and possibly activate trade sanctions that would harm the smooth implementation also of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

  Frances Fitzgerald (PPE). – Mr President, I thank our colleagues for their unwavering support during the last number of years, and Vice-President, thank you for your work.

It is heartbreaking to see so much peace and progress built over such a long period – over decades, it is nothing less than heartbreaking to see that being put at risk at present. So much peace, so much developed relationships all really up for question at the moment.

Thirty years ago, if you travelled from south to north or north to south, you would have been met with checkpoints and police, barbed wire and guns. Today, there is an open border. There is a community and business doing well and the border barely exists. That is because of the Good Friday Agreement. It’s because of the EU’s Customs Union and is protected in the Withdrawal Agreement.

The EU exists to bring down borders. The UK Government’s action risks putting borders up again. Dialogue is crucial, but all sides must be willing to engage in good faith, and we are not seeing that at present. The UK cannot speak about abiding by international commitments if it is not willing to respect the values of international law. The European Union has shown that it is willing to engage. It is time for the British Government to step back from the brink and do the same.

  Katarina Barley (S&D). – Mr President, Vice-President, so Boris Johnson decided to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Protocol unilaterally, the Northern Ireland Protocol that he signed himself. He says it’s not working. Well, the Northern Ireland economy is doing better than the one of Great Britain. What is not working is Brexit, but everybody knew that from the start.

What is not working is obviously also the democratic understanding of the DUP, who now are blocking the formation of a government once they’ve lost the elections. Boris Johnson and the DUP, they’re only acting in their own interests. They don’t care about Northern Ireland or the UK. They only think about themselves and they need a scapegoat, so they use the one they have put up before – the European Union. They keep up this conflict, which is dangerous, especially regarding the specific history of the Good Friday Agreement.

I would like to thank Vice-President Šefčovič for his patience and firmness, facing a counterpart who is not even looking for solutions. And I want to say to all the people in the UK and especially Northern Ireland, we will keep a light on.

Spontane Wortmeldungen

  Željana Zovko (PPE). – Mr President, today is a very interesting day. We voted the report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, where an overwhelming majority rejected the Strategic Compass – the document that was intended to prevent and to start having a real policy on the security and safety of European Union.

We are discussing the Northern Ireland Protocol Agreement and the Good Friday Agreement. The UK Government is trying to play its part in the Western Balkans, and everywhere around, in order to cover up what they are doing in Northern Ireland.

So I think that we should start paying attention in respecting the Dayton/Paris Peace Agreement and the Good Friday Agreement, and to start to do preventive diplomacy and pay attention to power—sharing governments everywhere in the world, in order to preserve peace and security for all the citizens.

  Inma Rodríguez-Piñero (S&D). – Señor presidente, después del Brexit todos los augurios de que era una mala decisión, especialmente para los británicos, se han cumplido: las estanterías vacías, la falta de medicamentos, el fuerte incremento de las exportaciones de Irlanda a Irlanda del Norte, mientras se desploman las procedentes de Inglaterra, la victoria del Sinn Féin y, para terminar, el partygate y la propia oposición interna al primer ministro, Boris Johnson, que le han impulsado a presentar una ley que supone, como han dicho todos los que me han precedido en el uso de la palabra, romper unilateralmente los compromisos y el acuerdo internacional firmado con la Unión Europea.

Los acuerdos están para cumplirlos y el proyecto de ley de Boris Johnson es un claro incumplimiento, una ilegalidad para cambiar de forma unilateral un acuerdo que él había decidido que fuera así. Desde luego, no lo vamos a permitir.

El propio Protocolo —el propio Acuerdo— establece los mecanismos para resolver las diferencias y las discrepancias a través del diálogo. Pero no hay diálogo si uno de los dos no quiere.

  Billy Kelleher (Renew). – Mr President, I want to thank the European Union, the Parliament, the Commission, the Council and all the constituent parts that make up Europe for the solidarity they have shown to Ireland, not only the Member State that is remaining within the European Union, but also for the part of our island that has been excluded from membership of the European Union – and that’s a very fundamental thought to keep in mind.

We need to ensure that Northern Ireland is not punished, is not suffering, by leaving the European Union against the wishes of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland. The European Union has shown great flexibility, great patience and great perseverance through Maroš Šefčovič, in terms of their understanding of the importance of ensuring there is no hard border on the island of Ireland. In my lifetime – and I’m 54 years of age, I saw some harrowing events on my island. Most importantly, the protocol understands that and tries to address it to ensure there is no hard border on the island.

What we need now to do is to ask the British Government to come back in to the tent and sit down and negotiate in good faith, under the basic principles of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol, but more importantly, for peace and stability on the island of Ireland. Thank you Commissioner Šefčovič and thank you, Parliament, for your support and solidarity on this crucial issue.

(Ende der spontanen Wortmeldungen)

  Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, thank you very much and I fully understand that this debate is sometimes very emotional. Everybody who visited Belfast, who visited Flurrybridge, who saw the video of how that area looked 25, 30 years ago with the military watchtowers – and now there is a thriving business community and healthy cross-border trade, peace and a clear wish from the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland to cooperate, to work together and definitely not to have a hard border and definitely not to have a dual regulatory regime – everyone who’s been there or felt that history has to be a little bit emotional. That is because we need to protect the peace and we need to deliver what we promised the people of Northern Ireland – that we will be looking at how to offer them, in this very difficult post-Brexit situation, the best of both worlds: access to the European Single Market and access to the UK internal market.

This is what we are working towards and this is why I so much appreciate not only the unity among the Member States, but also the strong support from the European Parliament because we mean well: we want to solve the problem. We are bringing constructive solutions to the table. And I agree with all of you – Mr McAllister, Mr Silva Pereira, Mr Pedro Marques and many others – who said that this is definitely a time for showing unity among the countries who share the same values. We have one huge challenge to the east of our borders, and it is definitely not the time to breach international law.

On top of that, this House is very much rooted in democracy, in democratic values. It is a house of European democracy. So therefore, I also fully understand the clear expressions of the Members of the European Parliament who sometimes cannot understand, how come, when you have the majority of the Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland supporting the Protocol, how come, when you have a majority of people in all opinion polls supporting the solutions we are bringing to the table, how come, when you have strong business support for dual market access, they are still struggling to get this done? I fully share the views of Mr Bourgeois, of Ms Barley and of others that the consequences of Brexit are palpable. But in the case of how we wanted to conclude it and find the best way forward through the protocol, Brexit in this case is clearly not complete. It is not done yet, and to use the London expression, the bill which we are discussing today, will not fix the Protocol; it will nix the Protocol, and it would reopen all the difficult discussions to which we know there is no other answer but the answer which we expressed in the protocol, in the Withdrawal Agreement and in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

On top of that, what is sometimes extremely sad, it seems that we share the same goals. If you are talking about a green line or an express line, what we want to achieve is to ease east-west trade as much as possible. We know that checking everything is not possible. But at the same time, we also know that checking nothing or the complete elimination of checks would simply open unguarded doors to the single market and would infringe upon the integrity of the single market, so that’s excluded. But to have a bare minimum of checks where, with the help of our UK partners, by accessing finally the IT systems, by doing checks on risk-based analysis, the bare minimum of checks, that would work, and we are ready to discuss it and this is the content of our protocol.

We offered also different easements for businesspeople on both sides of the border, through the expanded ‘trusted trader’ schemes.

All these proposals are on the table and I definitely would like to reassure the Members that we are ready to discuss them, but we want to have genuine negotiations that would be based on looking for a joint solution, which would avoid this unilateralism and which would not be some kind of window dressing where we are talking because we have to talk, bit the result is already given and it’s the bill because this is how the bill is drafted.

Therefore, I would like to reassure you that our door remains open. We hope that we will have these genuine negotiations, genuine talks, because this is what I believe that people in the EU, in Northern Ireland, in UK and in Ireland are expecting of us.

The last two things I would mention – because many of you appreciate it, there was a lot of creativity brought into our proposals. Indeed, we provided and suggested a lot of different technical solutions, but technical solutions will not do the trick if there is no political will on the UK side to engage and to look for a joint solution. So this is what we need. We have creativity, we need political will in London to actually have genuine talks, to restart and to work on joint practical solutions. If this would not be the case and if the bill, as drafted, would be adopted, of course, in that case, we would be forced to use the measures at our disposal, including the measures which are included in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

So I hope that we would avoid that situation and we will find a way to restart talks, to be constructive, and to find a joint solution which would be good for Northern Ireland, for the UK, for Ireland and for the European Union. Once again, thank you very much for this debate, for the opportunity to address you and for your unwavering support, which is so precious in these difficult days. Thank you very much.

  Mikuláš Bek, President-in-Office of the Council. – Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would conclude by thanking the European Parliament for our joint efforts in upholding EU unity between all institutions; it remains our strongest asset. As Ms Loiseau said, this is definitely not the time to get divided.

As many of us said, the United Kingdom is our partner. We share the same values and currently we face together the same severe geopolitical situation. As Mr McAllister said, mutual trust is key. We need to send to the United Kingdom a single united signal. Workable solutions can only be found jointly. There is neither legal nor political justification for attempting to unilaterally legislate at the national level to absolve oneself from the binding terms of an international agreement. The steps taken by the UK are a breach of trust and international law.

The Council stands fully united behind the Commission’s approach. The unilateral approach chosen by the UK is harming our partnership which, especially in times like these, should be strengthened.

We need to react adequately to the UK’s unilateral steps, but at the same time we invite the UK Government to come back to the table to find joint pragmatic solutions together. This is how democracies work, to the benefit of their people and businesses. For the European Union part, we are ready.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Maroš Šefčovič for his immense efforts.

  Der Präsident. – Die Aussprache ist damit geschlossen.

Die Abstimmung findet während einer späteren Tagung statt.