LONDON -- The British government said Friday it will introduce a bill next week to override parts of the Brexit trade treaty it signed with the European Union before the U.K. quit the bloc in 2020. The move will be a major escalation in a festering U.K-EU dispute over trade rules for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman, Jamie Davies, said the bill has been agreed by the relevant cabinet committees and will be introduced to Parliament on Monday.<\/p>\n
The legislation, if approved by lawmakers, would scrap parts of a trade treaty with the EU that Johnson signed less than two years ago, by removing checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. <\/p>\n
The EU has threatened to retaliate, raising the specter of a trade war between the two major economic partners.<\/p>\n
Some legal experts say the move is unlawful but the U.K. government says it will publish a summary of the legal advice it has received about the legislation.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. that shares a border with an EU country, Ireland. When Britain left the European Union and its borderless free-trade zone, the two sides agreed to keep the Irish land border free of customs posts and other checks because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Instead, to protect the EUs single market, there are checks on some goods, such as meat and eggs, entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.<\/p>\n
British unionists in Northern Ireland say the new checks have put a burden on businesses and frayed the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. -- seen by some unionists as a threat to their British identity.<\/p>\n
Britains Conservative government says the Brexit rules also are undermining peace in Northern Ireland, where they have caused a political crisis. Northern Ireland's main unionist party is blocking the formation of a new power-sharing government in Belfast, saying it wont take part until the Brexit trade rules are scrapped.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Follow all AP stories on Brexit at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/Brexit<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n See the original post here: <\/p>\n UK to introduce bill next week to breach Brexit deal with EU - ABC News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LONDON -- The British government said Friday it will introduce a bill next week to override parts of the Brexit trade treaty it signed with the European Union before the U.K. quit the bloc in 2020. Continue reading