UK must ‘immediately’ start building new customs posts for Northern Ireland trade checks, EU says

Britain must “immediately” start construction on new customs posts that will be needed to carry out checks on trade with Northern Ireland, the EU has said.

The European Commission says the “urgent” building of the facilities needs to start now to be ready for 1 January, when the Brexit transition period is due to end and new controls begin.

Under the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Boris Johnson, there will be new bureaucracy and checks on trade between different parts of the UK: on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, in both directions.

A communiqué to member states written on Thursday states: “All implementation measures that may require the creation of new facilities (such as new posts for the performance of official controls, or new customs offices) need to commence immediately to ensure that relevant facilities are operational on 1 January.”

The Independent understands that EU officials haven’t been told of any progress the UK has made on the infrastructure.

The note says implementation of the agreement as a whole “must be well under way by 1 July 2020” but says construction of border posts at British ports on the Irish Sea is among measures which “have to be taken even earlier” to ensure they are completed on time.

But the coronavirus pandemic means there is uncertainty in the UK about which construction projects can proceed with social distancing measures in place.

Boris Johnson falsely claimed during last year’s election that there would be no additional checks on trade inside the UK under the deal, despite it being written in black and white in the agreement he signed.

Theresa May had previously said no British prime minister could accept such conditions, but Mr Johnson effectively capitulated on the point while covering his tracks politically.

The EU’s briefing note says that as a priority the UK must get on with implementing the “introduction of customs procedures and formalities in Northern Ireland for all goods traded between Northern Ireland and Great Britain” as well as the “introduction of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements checks for all goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain”.

The prime minister is refusing to extend the Brexit transition period, which would give the UK more time to implement the withdrawal agreement before it crashes out. Under the treaty, a decision to extend would have to be made next month at the latest, to give both sides time to prepare for a cliff-edge no-deal.

The commission is also warning that the UK has just 30 days to start a major upgrade of its VAT and customs computer systems that will be needed to process new checks within the country.

“Most time-critical is the area of IT systems and databases supporting customs, VAT and excise processes,” the note says.

“In order to ensure full functionality and inter-operability of relevant systems by 1 January, commission services and the UK administration need to be working together at full speed and be ready for the necessary technical implementations, which in our technical assessment need to start by 1 June at the very latest.”

Discussions are currently taking place on implementing the Northern Ireland protocol on the so-called “joint committee”, an EU-UK body set up by the withdrawal agreement that oversees policies.

The first meeting took place on 30 March via teleconference, with Michael Gove leading for the UK side and commissioner Maros Sefcovic leading for Brussels. A UK government source close to its negotiating team said the agreement “imposes legal obligations on both sides”.

Asked about the note, the Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said: “The European Commission have chosen to publish its technical note to set out its own views on the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. It was not shared at recent meetings with the UK nor has it been agreed by the UK government.

“Most strikingly, the note appears to miss out the fundamental objective of the Northern Ireland protocol. There is no mention of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement or the peace process anywhere in this seven-page document.

“We are committed to complying with our legal obligations under the protocol, just as we expect the EU to comply with theirs. We will continue to take forward discussions on the implementation of the protocol.”