Ulster Unionist Leader, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, has stated that UK and EU negotiators should explore all options to undo the damage the Protocol has done to the Belfast Agreement. 

Mr Aiken said: 

“On the face of it, relationships between the UK Government and the EU look like they are improving with Lord Frost scheduled to meet European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic for talks in Brussels on Thursday. I hope it`s for the right reasons and isn`t building up false hope. However, unless the UK Government and the EU are intent on undoing the very real damage being done to the Belfast Agreement by the Northern Ireland Protocol they risk creating further instability. 

“Alternative arrangements need to be found and suggestions have already been put forward by the Ulster Unionist Party, but there needs to be a collective political will to do so. If the UK Government and the EU are only going to pay lip service to addressing the very real economic and societal issues created in Northern Ireland by the Protocol and tinker around the edges, then people will see through that. There is a window of opportunity to make real change. They must not waste it. 

“There are a number of options if the political will is there. There is absolutely no threat to the EU`s single market from goods destined for consumption and distribution in Northern Ireland yet the EU is still insisting on using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.  

“In February 2019 the Ulster Unionist Party published a paper putting practical solutions forward that the United Kingdom could give reassurance to the EU by introducing a new offence that would prohibit the use of our territory to export goods to the EU that are not compliant with EU regulations and standards, as required to maintain the integrity of the single market. Alongside that we also suggested the structures of the Belfast Agreement to address these issues, establishing an all islands (UK and RoI) compliance body to provide assurance. 

“Furthermore, the UK and EU should actively explore the opportunity to create a bespoke SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) Agreement. There are other options to consider.  

“It`s make your mind up time for UK and EU negotiators. Do they genuinely want to undo the damage that has been inflicted on the Belfast Agreement - not to mention to the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom - by the Protocol or in their minds is political ideology more important than the economic and societal stability of Northern Ireland?”