Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey, has stated that the EU should speak to those who negotiated the Belfast Agreement rather than sidelining them.
Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey said:
“It`s all very well EU Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic stating his ‘unwavering commitment’ to the Belfast Agreement, but if that is the case, I would be grateful to know at what stage will he and others start talking to those of us who actually negotiated the Agreement in 1998. If they took the time to listen to what we had to say, then they would gain a better understanding of what was negotiated, why it was negotiated and the finely balanced equilibrium that it struck.
“As someone who was directly involved in the negotiations which led to the Belfast Agreement, I know better than most that dismissing and sidelining genuine concerns is the road to nowhere. The EU should learn from the mistakes of the past rather than repeating them. If they are genuine in their commitment to the Belfast Agreement, they would be engaging with those of us who negotiated it. Trite words of support for the Belfast Agreement while sidelining parties who negotiated it, does nothing to solve the very real issues created by the Protocol.
“In February 2019, we published proposals to give confidence to the EU that our territory would not be used to subvert the integrity of the EU`s Single Market alongside using the Belfast Agreement to resolve ongoing issues. Unfortunately, these were never given serious consideration in negotiations. Northern Ireland is in a unique situation and that requires unique solutions which respect the Belfast Agreement. The Protocol takes no account of that.”