Northern Ireland business groups are calling for a six month delay to Brexit checks in the Irish Sea saying that Boris Johnson’s late admission that he is legally obliged to implement them has left them no time to prepare for the December cliff edge.
They have also hit out at Downing Street secrecy, saying they are refusing to discuss the plans with the very people that needed to implement them.
Their call for a six month “adjustment period” falls short of the extension to the transition period that the Stormont assembly unexpectedly agreed to call for earlier this week.
But they warned Northern Ireland businesses will go to the wall unless they are given more time by the UK and the EU to set themselves up for the unprecedented changes to the way they trade with Britain.
Responding to the government’s command paper on the Northern Ireland protocol with a list of 60 unanswered questions they urged Michael Gove, who is charged with implementing the withdrawal agreement to urgently engage with them.
“The level of engagement we have with the UK government across a raft of policy areas is really good. But when it comes to this Brexit issue, it’s really locked down and controlled. There is no real defined engagement from them,” said Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing Northern Ireland.
He said engagement levels were worse than during Theresa May’s reign and were completely “unacceptable” as the Northern Ireland protocol kicks in on January 1st whether there is a trade deal or not.
Although Theresa May’s approach to the Irish border cost her her premiership, business groups said there was at least discussion.
“The current approach is very much ‘hold it tight and don’t be telling anyone anything unless they really have to hear it’. It isn’t acceptable … it isn’t appropriate. At the end of the day, we are the only people that will deliver this Brexit thing. We’re the ones that will be asked to make this a success,” said Kelly.
Fourth round talks on the trade and future relationship deal the UK and the EU want to strike finish on Friday but there is little expectation of any breakthrough.
A deal will have little impact on the new trading environment that must swing into place in Northern Ireland on January 1st as part of the deal to avoid checks and risk peace on the Irish border.
Aodhán Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said businesses were realistic and knew the UK government was not looking to extend the transition period.
Businesses were willing to help the government make the new Brexit protocol work but it was “mission critical” to involve them with just seven months to go.
They warn that there is little capacity for planning with delays on the British side compounded by the Covid crisis. Even if they had the “bandwidth” they couldn’t prepare because the government has kept them in the dark on the details of customs and regulatory checks that will be imposed.
“We had said from January that this was going to be a Herculean task to get everything done in time for January 1st, it has only gotten harder,” said Connolly.
Business groups have already asked for financial compensation for the extra costs they will incur.
The government conceded just two weeks ago that there would be checks in the Irish sea when Michael Gove, who is charged with implementing and enforcing the withdrawal agreement on behalf of the UK, revealed the command paper on Northern Ireland protocol.
The paper was welcomed by Northern Ireland businesses at the time and by Michel Barnier’s senior adviser Stefaan de Rynck last Friday as it was the first step in “unlocking” the process of setting up a unique trading operation for the region. – Guardian News and Media 2020
