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EU launches legal action against UK for breaching Brexit deal and international law
2020-10-1 CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/01/uk/eu-legal-action-brexit-intl-gbr/index.html
內文:
London (CNN)The European Union has launched legal proceedings against the UK after it failed to withdraw legislation that would breach the Brexit deal both sides signed last year and break international law.
The announcement comes after weeks of
controversy since Boris Johnson's government revealed its plans to put in place
legislation that would override a specific part of the Withdrawal Agreement
called the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Speaking in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen,
President of the EU Commission, said that the EU had invited the UK to
"remove the problematic parts of their draft internal market bill by the
end of September." She said that the draft bill is "by its very
nature a breach of the obligation of good faith laid down in the Withdrawal
Agreement," adding that "it will be in full contradiction" of
the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol
was agreed in order to eliminate the need for border checks between the only
land border shared by the EU and UK on the island of Ireland. Both sides fear
that checks could lead to a hard border and the return of sectarian violence
that Ireland and Northern Ireland hoped were a distant memory.
Since the UK
government has not pulled this legislation, the Commission has written a letter
of formal notice to the UK government, the first step in an infringement
procedure -- something the EU commonly uses when parties breach agreements with
the union.
"The
letter invites the UK government to send its observations within a month and
besides this the Commission will continue to work hard towards full and timely
implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. We stand by our commitments,"
von der Leyen concluded.
The move,
though dramatic, was expected in London. The government had previously admitted
that its Internal Market Bill would breach the treaty and break international
law in a "very specific and limited way." The government claims that
the bill is a safety net to ensure seamless trade between the four nations of
the United Kingdom in the event of a no deal Brexit at the end of this year and
hopes it won't have to use the legislation.
The backdrop
to all of this is that trade talks between London and Brussels are entering
their final phase. The last formal round of talks are talking place right now
and an EU summit will take place on October 15, where negotiators hope a deal
will be on the table for EU leaders to approve.
Both sides say a deal is in sight, but are
struggling to reach an agreement on some key issues, most notably around the
UK's ability to use state aid in order to prop up British businesses. The EU
says this could give British companies an unfair advantage over EU companies.
There are also disputes over fishing rights and governance.
While both sides are talking up their
readiness for no deal and pointing the finger one at one another, there is also
a broad acknowledgement that the recent drama could be part of deliberate
theater as the talks reach their climax. If there is to be a deal, both sides
will need to make it appear as though they have held a hard line and forced a
concession from the other.
英國脫歐一事已告一個段落，但仍有許多關於脫歐的條款需要協調，這次英國下議院單方面通過內部市場法案，我認為該法案對於英格蘭、威爾斯、蘇格蘭與北愛爾蘭之間的交易有非常大的幫助，不過由於英國必須遵守脫歐協議，脫歐協議又屬於國際條約，此舉確實有違國際法，隨之而來的就是來自歐盟所提起的訴訟，因而可能導致對英的罰款或關稅制裁。
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