BRUSSELS -- The British government seems to lack the political will to end its trade dispute with Europe and could threaten the hard-won peace of Northern Ireland, said Micheal Martin, the Irish Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, announced last month that his government would adopt a law to repeal parts of a trade agreement with the EU that was signed less than two decades ago. The EU threatened to retaliate, raising concerns about a trade war among the two main economic partners.
Martin, a French EU legislator, stated that he could not see a sustained political will from the U.K. government in order to resolve the matter.
In the next few days, the British government will publish a draft law to eliminate checks on goods entering Northern Ireland via the U.K. However, legal experts are concerned that the move could be illegal and will oppose the bill in Parliament.
Britain claims that its unilateral breach of the legally binding Brexit Treaty is an insurance policy for the event it cannot reach an agreement.
Martin stated that rather than the British government trying help, Martin claimed that "we have seen attempts to block agreements and create new problems."
British unionists in Northern Ireland, the only region of the U.K. with a border to an EU member state, Martin's Ireland, oppose trade rules that created a customs frontier in the Irish Sea.
Britain was forced to leave the European Union and its borderless, free-trade zone. The two sides also agreed to keep Ireland's land border open for customs and other checks. This is because it was a key pillar in the peace process that brought an end decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
To protect the EU's single markets, checks are placed on certain goods entering Northern Ireland from the U.K. British unionists claim that the new checks have placed a burden on businesses, and has broken the bonds between Northern Ireland's and the rest of Britain.
The Conservative government in Britain insists that the rules are also undermining peace and stability in Northern Ireland. They have created a political crisis. The main unionist party in Belfast is blocking the formation a power-sharing government, claiming it will not take part until trade rules are removed.
On Wednesday, Ireland's Prime Minister told the European Parliament that plans by the British government to "set aside a solemn accord would be deeply destructive."
Martin stated, "It would signal a disregard for fundamental principles of laws that are the foundations international relations." Martin said, "And it would quite literally not be in the interest of absolutely anyone."
------
Follow AP's coverage of Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit
