BRUSSELS, 16 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, assured this Monday that the European Union is determined to maintain dialogue with the United Kingdom to seek solutions to the application of the protocol to stop Northern Ireland negotiated by Brexit, although he has wanted to leave It is clear that renegotiating this agreement is not an option for the bloc and has warned the British government that breaking it unilaterally will only “cause problems”.
“Without a doubt, the will of the European Commission and Ireland to attend to the concerns is very present, but we cannot accept that the United Kingdom acts unilaterally and adopts legislation that breaks with International Law,” Coveney said in statements to the press in Brussels, where he attends a meeting of EU ministers.
Coveney has said that after a breakfast with the rest of the partners he has been able to verify how the Twenty-seven are a “rock” with respect to the determination to “solve problems with British friends” but without forgetting that “the law is the law” and therefore both the protocol designed and ratified by the EU and the United Kingdom “is the basis for any agreement”.
In this way, the Irish minister has alluded to the fact that the protocol is an international Treaty and that moving away from its compliance unilaterally “will cause more problems”.
“The alternative to unilateralism is tension, rancor and a legal challenge”, Coveney continued to appeal to “dialogue” and the need for commitment on the part of the British Government, who is criticized from the European side for rejecting all proposals for Brussels but do not offer alternative plans beyond breaching what was signed.
The Irish politician has considered that there is room to achieve “progress quickly” and has hoped that Monday’s trip that Johnson makes to the Northern Irish province will result in a sign that London is also willing to “work together” to find a point of understanding.
3
