Boris Johnson series with EU over Northern Ireland’s Brexit deals are “absolutely solvable”, but only if the UK accepts that the border is imminent. former head of said the World Trade Organization.
But Pascal Lamy said that prime minister could only achieve a breakthrough if he stopped mixing “oil and vinegar” and throwing emotional Brexit politics on to what he said was essentially technical problem.
Lamy said he didn’t understand the strategy that was risking trade war with EU, but added which is unlikely to come to this, because “costthe “benefit ratio” was “ludicrous”.
If the situation really gets worse and the EU responds with sanctions, bloc win like those with highest power for trade did at all, Lamy said.
His comments in interview with The Guardian, appeared after British foreign secretary Liz Truss, under threat new the laws allow UK to change some of Northern Ireland protocol. United Kingdom government came under pressure from the Unionist Democrats party and Traditional Unionist Voice, both of who campaigned on anti-protocol ticket in recent elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
lamy, who closely followed Brexit over in past seven years and who now president of Paris Peace Forum, French non-profit organization, after leaving the WTO in 2013, announced demands to remove the border in The Irish Sea would never fully break through.
“I don’t understand what they are. [the UK] persecuted,” he said. “If this is not a border, then it won’t work. You cannot leave the EU and not have a border. This is just have your cake and eat it.
“Therefore, there is a question mark as to what exactly problem on United Kingdom side. If it’s “we’re not want border’ then this like saying, “We are not want Brexit. Then it’s unsolvable.”
Lamy continued: “Great Britain government has this ability to mix problems and cook political soup.
“These are oil and vinegar issues between the emotional and the technical aspects. Emotions are extremely high because Boris Johnson keeps beating the drum saying that Brexit is great thing. He must increase sound of drum to say Brexit is great thing all the time.”
If the UK recognized the border, it was a direct consequence of Brexit, then the solution might be foundLamy said.
Might be a dynamic solution for Northern Ireland, he suggested. It will be related to the “thin border” with multiple checks on trade across the Irish Sea while the UK remained in line with EU standards. This will become a “thick border” if the UK wanted deviate from these standards, lamy added.
This solution will require the equivalence in standards with EU and has already was rejected by the UK as unacceptable as it would jeopardize the country’s control of their laws.
Lamy said it got to the point issue of borders between countries and are always associated with compromises.
“The UK is torn between its political positions. want be able to disperse [on standards]and the technical consequence of what is the thicker border,” he said.
The only one way to solve in issue was “to dial down emotions” and “let the technicians find a solution that allows both sides to find the middle between a thick and thin border.”
Given that the border between the UK and the EU is non-negotiable, the UK best shot at the decision was “play for time like you can’t play with moneyLamy said.
The solutions included schemes for trusted merchants who “would transport the border up value chain” and light-sensor checks in ports.
“Customs officers have limited amount of time in day. It is about finding a compromise between ensuring control on one side and trade flow on the other,” Lamy said.
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He played down Britain’s threat to legislate to “suspend” some of in protocol if the EU had not given in to Johnson’s demands, declaring that he found hard to believe that the UK and the EU will come to an end up in a trade war.
“If there was one EU would win normally one which has the largest trade potential prevails,” Lamy said.
with the war in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland are doing important decisions to join NATO, Brexit was an “annoyance” for EU leaders, he added.
