Among all the spin a critical consideration is how far, if at all, the existing Protocol has been superseded. A ‘framework’ will not have the legal effect that the Protocol was given by Section 7A of the EU Withdrawal Act. And, I heard nothing of new legislation to give precedence to ‘the framework’.
Here Art 13 – 8 of the Protocol is critical, because it says, “Any subsequent agreement between the Union ad the United Kingdom shall indicate the parts of this Protocol it supersedes.”
So, the first thing to establish from the legal text will be what parts, if any, of the Protocol have been superseded and how will that be done?
TUV’s starting point in responding to the UK/EU Agreement is to recall and reaffirm the Joint Unionist Declaration to which we expect all Unionist leaders to hold.
“We, the undersigned Unionist Political Leaders, affirm our opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol, its mechanisms and structures and reaffirm our unalterable position that the Protocol must be rejected and replaced by arrangements which fully respect Northern Ireland’s position as a constituent and integral part of the United Kingdom”.
It would appear clear that under the latest agreement:
Northern Ireland stays within the foreign EU Single Market for goods.
Thus divergence from GB stays with growing economic and constitutional consequences.
Foreign EU law stays.
Hence the ECJ stays.
The foreign EU Customs Code stays.
The extent to which customs declarations stay for goods from GB remains to be seen..
The Irish Sea Border infrastructure stays.
It follows that Art 6 of the Acts of Union stays suspended!
The so called ‘Stormont Brake’ is meaningless, if as the PM said it operates on a cross-community basis, which means it can be vetoed by nationalists and in any event if does not give the Assembly the power to stop the imposition of foreign laws.
Effectively the Protocol stays and all that is gone is the Government’s Protocol Bill.