UK Government statement on the UK-EU Joint Committee and the Implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol
Published 7 December 2020
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The UK Government is committed to the full implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol in a pragmatic, proportionate way which recognises Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s customs territory, and upholds the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions.
The UK Government set out on 17 September that Parliament would be asked to support the use of clauses 44, 45 and 47 of the UK Internal Market Bill, and any similar subsequent clauses in a Finance Bill, only in circumstances where the fundamental purposes of the Northern Ireland Protocol would be undermined. This took account of the particular importance of finding satisfactory solutions as regards:
- determining those goods “at risk” of entering the EU market
- upholding the principle of “unfettered access” by removing export declarations for Northern Ireland goods moving to Great Britain; and
- protecting against the inadvertent risk of “reach back” of the Protocol’s state aid provisions to companies with no link, or only a trivial one, to commercial operations taking place in Northern Ireland
Since then, the UK and the EU have worked constructively together through the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee. Discussions continue to progress and final decisions are expected in the coming days. If the solutions being considered in those discussions are agreed, the UK Government would be prepared to remove clause 44 of the UK Internal Market Bill, concerning export declarations. The UK Government would also be prepared to deactivate clauses 45 and 47, concerning state aid, such that they could be used only when consistent with the United Kingdom’s rights and obligations under international law.
Good progress continues to be made regarding the decision as to which goods are ‘at risk’ of entering the EU market. Talks continue this afternoon. In the light of those discussions, the Government will keep under review the content of the forthcoming Taxation Bill.