Boris Johnson is trying to back out of his own Brexit deal because he negotiated it too quickly, Downing Street has suggested.
No.10 said the withdrawal agreement (WA) Johnson trumpeted as “oven ready” in the election and signed in January was negotiated “at pace” in “the most challenging possible political circumstances”.
It came as the EU reacted with fury after the government published new Brexit legislation which confirms that the prime minister wants to give the UK the power to renege on the deal and break international law.
European Council president Charles Michel described Johnson’s approach as “unacceptable” and suggested it could lead to the collapse of talks on a long-term trade deal, currently ongoing in London.
Key passages in the Internal Market Bill published on Wednesday confirm Johnson wants to unpick parts of the WA to give ministers sweeping powers to decide when EU rules apply to trade between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland.
The plans have already triggered a backlash from Tory MPs and there are growing signs of a civil service walkout over the plans following the resignation of the head of the government’s legal department Sir Jonathan Jones.
Reacting to criticism over the plans, Johnson’s official spokesperson told reporters: “The withdrawal agreement and Northern Ireland protocol aren’t like any other treaty.
“It was agreed at pace in the most challenging possible political circumstances to deliver on a decision by the British people, with the clear overriding purpose of protecting the special circumstances of Northern Ireland.”
But Michel said the WA “has to be applied in full” and warned the prime minister that his approach “does not create the confidence” the EU needs to tie up a long-term trade deal.
The Internal Market Bill gives UK ministers powers to regulate trade in Northern Ireland, with “relevant international law” like the WA “not to be recognised”.
It also gives ministers the power to make regulations to “disapply” an entire section in the WA on state aid rules, which govern how much money a government can give in subsidies to companies or industries.
The prime minister’s chief aide, Dominic Cummings, has reportedly made getting more freedom over state aid a priority for Brexit negotiations.
On Tuesday, Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis admitted the plans “break international law”.
And after the details were published in the bill on Wednesday, Michel said: “The withdrawal agreement was concluded and ratified by both sides, it has to be applied in full.
“Breaking international law is not acceptable and does not create the confidence we need to build our future relationship.
State aid is currently one of the main sticking points in ongoing talks on a longer-term trade deal.
Ministers are worried that the WA negotiated by Johnson last year risks giving Brussels control over UK state aid already because of the way it treats Northern Ireland, which will follow EU rules on certain aspects of trade but UK rules on others, to ensure it keeps an invisible border with the Republic.
There is a concern that the EU could interpret these rules broadly and hamstring the UK’s ability to use state aid in the rest of the country, outside Northern Ireland, because it could argue that a mainland company could still be operating in the province.
The UK is also seeking to seize powers for ministers to unilaterally decide what goods are “at risk” of being sold into the EU via Northern Ireland, and must therefore comply with Brussels tariffs.
Experts believe both of these approaches would put the UK in breach of the WA.
But Downing Street insists that the WA explicitly left many issues on Northern Ireland up in the air, to be hammered out by a so-called “joint committee” of UK and EU officials.
No.10 has said its plans are simply a “safety net” if the joint committee cannot agree.
“We are fully committed to that process,” the spokesperson said, revealing that the UK had accepted a request for a new meeting of the joint committee.
Earlier in the Commons, Johnson said he feared a failure to agree the joint committee could leave the UK open to “extreme and irrational” interpretation of the WA by the EU.
“My job is to uphold the integrity of the UK but also to protect the Northern Irish peace process and the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
“To do that we need a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations of the protocol, which could lead to a border down the Irish Sea in a way that I believe – and I think members around the House believe – would be prejudicial to the interests of the Good Friday Agreement and prejudicial to the interests of peace in our country.
“That has to be our priority.”