British lawmakers are set to hold key votes on a bill that would override part of the country’s EU withdrawal agreement on Tuesday, despite strong opposition in Brussels, Belfast and Dublin.
The government is expected to win votes on the bill after Prime Minister Boris Johnson compromised with rebel lawmakers in his Conservative party, tabling an amendment that would require parliament to approve any implementation of the power to override the withdrawal agreement.
Johnson wants to create a legal “safety net” giving him the power to supersede a provision that would impose different post-Brexit customs rules on Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.
The provision seeks to prevent the creation of border checks between Northern Ireland, which is leaving the EU as part of the United Kingdom, and EU-member the Republic of Ireland.
Critics, including five former British prime ministers and several senior Conservatives, warned that superseding part of the Brexit agreement could break international law and erode trust with the EU and other partners.
In Brussels on Tuesday, German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth appealed to Britain to stick to the withdrawal agreement.
“This so-called internal market bill is extremely worrying for us because it violates the guiding principles of the withdrawal agreement. And that’s totally unacceptable for us,” Roth said on his way into talks with his EU counterparts.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said he met European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels.
The EU remains focussed on negotiating a deal on future trade and other relations with Britain but also “full implementation of the [Irish border] protocol and withdrawal agreement,” Coveney tweeted.
“Outstanding issues can be resolved through negotiation,” he added.
In the debate in the British parliament on Monday, Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor as prime minister, said the bill was “putting the integrity of the UK at risk” by undermining the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which unerpins Northern Ireland’s fragile peace process.
“If the potential consequences of the withdrawal agreement were so bad, why did the government sign it?” May asked.
Northern Ireland’s devolved assembly added its opposition to the bill on Monday, also warning that it could jeopardize the peace process.
“It’s unacceptable that the British government were willing to abandon the vital protections for the north that it had negotiated and agreed only 12 months ago,” said Sinn Fein assembly member Caoimhe Archibald.
Britain formally left the European Union in January and entered a transition period until the end of the year, during which it still belongs to the EU single market and customs union.
The two sides have held several rounds of talks on post-Brexit trade arrangements, but negotiations appear to have reached an impasse.
Johnson has vowed to end the talks if no agreement is reached by mid-October, insisting that a no-deal Brexit would be a “good outcome” for Britain.
