DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson insisted that trade barriers between Britain and the North as a result of Brexit should be «removed, not replaced».
Speaking after Monday’s meeting with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, Mr. Donaldson also urged London to unilaterally suspend the Northern Ireland Protocol unless Brussels renegotiates it.
«My message was simple,» Mr. Donaldson said after the virtual meeting. “The protocol did not work. Even those who supported its strict implementation know this.
«Barriers and distortions to trade within the UK’s internal market must be removed and not replaced.»
Donaldson said his party had «pressure the UK government to that end».
«Both the (UK) government and the European Union must renegotiate now,» he added.
“If the EU is unwilling to recognize the harm caused by the Protocol, the UK government must take appropriate unilateral action using Article 16.
«Subjecting NI to laws and regulations over which its representatives and Westminster have no say can never work and not have the support of both communities.»
The controversial Article 16 of the protocol allows the EU or the UK to unilaterally suspend aspects of their operations if either side considers that aspect causing «economic, social or environmental difficulties».
The protocol was negotiated as part of the EU Withdrawal Agreement to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland by keeping the North in the EU’s single market for goods.
Unionists oppose the result of checking goods arriving in the region from Britain, which they believe threatens the constitutional status of the north within the United Kingdom.
The grace period for easing inspections and inspections of refrigerated meat is due to expire in October.
On Sunday, supermarkets wrote to Sefcovic and Britain’s Brexit Secretary David Frost urging more action before the end of September «if there is no major disruption to supply and an increase in cost for consumers in Northern Ireland».
The letter urged the UK and EU governments to engage in discussions with British retailers, visit their supply chains and distribution centres, and host joint talks between government technical officials and retail supply chain experts to find a workable solution.
He warned that «without rapid, decisive and cooperative action on this issue there will be disruption» and called on Mr. Frost and Mr. Sefcovic to «help us reduce this disruption and allow us to continue to provide assistance to the people of Northern Ireland with choice and affordability».
Writing in Monday’s Belfast Newsletter, Donaldson said the Brexit border in the Irish Sea added «significant cost and complexity» to trade between Britain and the North and led to a «growing problem» of East-West trade «which has been diverted to the Republic of Ireland and other markets».
Mr. Donaldson also criticized the «democratic impotence at the heart of the protocol».
«In the past three months alone, the European Union has passed 600 pieces of legislation affecting business in Northern Ireland,» he said.
“This shows that we cannot simply press the pause button in the protocol. There has to be a complete restart of relations and Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market must be fully restored.”
The UK government is expected to outline its proposals to reform the protocol later this week.
The DDF said any new arrangements should avoid diverting trade, give people in the north «a say in the making of the laws that govern them», and mean there are no controls on goods passing in either direction between the north and Britain.
The party also warned that there would be no new regulatory barriers between the North and Britain «unless agreed upon by the Northern Ireland Executive and Council».
“These tests are based on the legitimate concerns of local communities and the past promises of the UK and the EU,” said Mr Donaldson.
«It is entirely reasonable to expect that they can be met through practical and lasting solutions.»
Mr Donaldson said the «growing social and political instability» caused by the current arrangements «cannot simply be ignored or eliminated».
It was «time» for the EU to show a level of «self-awareness, take responsibility for these divisive, disruptive and destabilizing arrangements, and commit to finding a lasting and consensual alternative,» he added.
«stable road»
Speaking on Monday, Mr. Frost said the protocol «has to work in a different way if we are to find a stable path forward».
In response to a question before the European Audit Committee in Westminster, Frost said London’s proposal for a «parity» arrangement, where both sides become familiar with each other’s food and animal safety standards, was under discussion with Brussels.
The EU has been pushing for the harmonization arrangement, in which the UK agrees to follow EU rules.
Mr Frost said the only way the protocol could be made «sustainable» was to «significantly reduce or remove barriers» between Britain and the North.
He told MPs that the «border» it set up was «too deterrent, too complex and too frightening to identity in various ways».
Mr Frost said the British government would outline its proposals on Wednesday.
On Mr. Donaldson’s comments that the protocol is not working, Frost said «the more the EU understands this, the sooner we are likely to get a good conclusion.»
Mr Frost also criticized the EU’s «immediate recourse to legal arms» after the UK unilaterally extended grace periods, saying it «did not serve particularly well».
«It’s a sensitive situation and we need to sort of focus on the politics and the reality of what’s going on here,» he said.
Mr Frost said that while unionists’ unease about the protocol was «extremely troubling and troubling», there was no sense that Northern Ireland was not part of the UK.