The EU Throws a Futile Temper Tantrum

National Review ^ | 2 Oct, 2020 | CAMERON HILDITCH

[MtnClimber]

Earlier this week, the House of Commons in Westminster passed the Internal Markets Bill, a law that asserts British sovereignty over sovereign British territory. Fairly uncontroversial, right? Downright tautological, even.

Not according to the European Union. As I wrote about here, the British government made an ill-advised decision last year to sign on to a very bad Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union. The text of this agreement allowed the EU to economically annex Northern Ireland, one of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom, and to keep it under the European customs and regulation regime. The EU’s pretense for demanding Northern Ireland as their pound of flesh during Brexit negotiations was that a fluid and permeable border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is impossible otherwise. The consequent erection of border infrastructure would, we are told, risk a flare-up of the horrific violence that has ravaged the island of Ireland since the United Kingdom was partitioned in 1921. The contention that only European control of Northern Ireland is necessary for avoiding a hard border is false, as the EU itself has admitted. But it’s a politically useful story to tell in order to gain leverage over the U.K. during negotiations.

Discovering that such a situation is in fact wholly unworkable for a fully independent and sovereign nation, the British government passed the Internal Markets Bill. As the U.K.’s Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis has admitted, the bill violates the Withdrawal Agreement by reclaiming British sovereignty over Northern Ireland.

Needless to say, the EU is not pleased by this turn of events. They served Boris Johnson’s government with a “letter of formal notice” this week that could eventually lead to a case against the British government being brought at the European Court of Justice.

[MtnClimber]

Britain should run, not walk, away from the control freak socialists in the EU.

[dfwgator]

Ditto for Poland.

[mo]

The EU is a toothless Brussels bureaucrat employment agency.

[Brian Griffin]

The UK government promised NI that goods could flow freely from NI to Scotland, Wales and England.

The withdrawal agreement is inherently subject to this solemn promise of the UK to NI.

What about the concept of a United Kingdom could be beyond EU understanding?

The EU may have a case with respect to state aid.

[Yardstick]

But it’s a politically useful story to tell in order to gain leverage over the U.K. during negotiations.
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And of course our Democrats are on the EU side. Biden spouted off on the “soft border” during the debate.

[angmo]

Nine counties in Ireland should not have a say in anything. Either reunite with Ireland, and remove an enormous headache from the UK or STFU.

[MtnClimber]

The EU is a toothless Brussels bureaucrat employment agency.

How many regulations are placed on a simple item like a tooth brush? Around 100. It blocks outside products and creates huge regulatory compliance costs that only benefit the power of the unelected regulation writers.

[mewzilla]

The bureaucratic entity that passed the meme ban and the link tax is far from toothless.

Hence the problem.

Note to the UK: Brexit faster.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

“They served Boris Johnson’s government with a “letter of formal notice” this week that could eventually lead to a case against the British government being brought at the European Court of Justice.”

LOL, Britain won’t answer to the ECJ next year. What are they going to do, send a couple of Belgian gendarmaries to Downing Street to arrest Boris?

[hanamizu]

The UK government promised NI that goods could flow freely from NI to Scotland, Wales and England.

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That becomes a problem if Ireland (EU) goods (and people) can flow freely into NI and thus to the rest of the UK and vice versa. To keep that from happening a border between NI and the Republic has to be real—at least that’s how I understand the problem.