US Response to British Brexit Threats

This week the British Government again called for a fundamental rewrite of the Agreement they signed last year with the EU to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. If their demands are not met by the end of September they have threatened to act unilaterally and crash the agreement,

The response from the EU was a diplomatic commitment to look at the British suggestions and how the agreement could be better implemented, but a determined no to any renegotiation.

There was a unified response from US Political leaders.

In response to threats by the British of a unilateral action, the Statement Department spokesperson said,

“President Biden has been nothing but unequivocal in his support for the Belfast and the Good Friday Agreement, which was an historic agreement at the time, remains significant and incredibly important. We support a close relationship between the UK and the EU, and between all communities in Northern Ireland as well. And we continue to encourage the parties to negotiate within existing mechanisms, and to avoid unilateral actions.”

Representative Richard Neal, Chair of the Ways and Means Committee said, “The Northern Ireland Protocol was negotiated between the United Kingdom and the European Union to facilitate post-Brexit trade while protecting the peace and prosperity established by the Good Friday Agreement. I welcome continued engagement between the UK and the EU on ways to protect the gains made by that historic peace accord in all of its dimensions. I strongly encourage the UK and the EU to work together in a flexible and pragmatic manner in an effort to improve implementation of the Protocol and to make it work more effectively for all affected parties.”

Brendan F. Boyle (PA), Co-Chair of the Congressional EU Caucus, released the following statement in response to the British government's latest attempt to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol: "This British government negotiated the NI Protocol, agreed to it, and its Parliament voted for it. Yet almost immediately after it went into effect, the British government has tried to evade its responsibilities under the protocol. Their latest statement and proposed changes just continues this trend and serves only to further destabilize Northern Ireland.”