Handelsblatt International correspondent Torsten Riecke analyzes interesting data and trends from all over the world in his weekly column. You can reach him at [email protected]
(Photo: Klawe Rzeczy)
London Where else could Rishi Sunak have celebrated his biggest triumph as British Prime Minister better than in the shadow of Windsor Castle? Last weekend he invited all 355 Conservative MPs to the same luxury hotel where he had just days earlier wrested key concessions from the EU on trade with Northern Ireland. “We made Brexit a success,” was the message Sunak wanted to use to encourage the Tories, who are far behind Labor in the polls.
In Brussels, on the other hand, they “keep the balls flat”, as one diplomat put it, and let the British prime minister enjoy his “oversold” success. If Sunak gets his way with the Northern Ireland deal in his EU-sceptical party, the EU strategists calculate that the tiresome Brexit dispute could finally be put behind them. In addition, “a new chapter” in cooperation could be opened, said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
However, that could soon turn out to be wishful thinking, because the next collision between London and Brussels is already foreseeable: by the end of the year, the British government wants to either change more than 3,000 laws and rules from the time of EU membership or, should the short time are not sufficient for this, are automatically deleted. This is what the so-called “Retained EU Law Bill”, which has already been introduced in Parliament in Westminster, wants.
The wave of deregulation is being celebrated in London as a “Brexit dividend”, with which one can finally “free oneself from the shackles of the EU”. Therein lies the unspoken threat of undermining EU standards, for example in the case of genetically modified food, in order to gain a competitive edge.
“The UK Government’s bill to retain EU law could drastically reduce the high standards and important protections for the food industry,” warns Scotland’s regional government.
Northern Ireland deal would exacerbate problem
But EU standards for data, work and consumer protection are also up for discussion. In Brussels, there have long been fears that the UK could start a downward deregulation competition after leaving the EU.
The recent Northern Ireland deal would only exacerbate the problem. After all, he gives the regional parliament in Belfast a say in the application of new EU rules in the Northern Irish province.
>> Read here: Historic pact or small adjustment? What the Northern Ireland deal means
Should Brussels tighten its standards, for example in food controls or the use of chemicals, and London does not follow suit, the votes of 30 unionist parliamentarians in Belfast will be enough to bring the initiative to a standstill in part of the internal market.
This “emergency brake” by Parliament in Stormont, in combination with the explicit desire of the hard-line Brexit advocates in London to deviate from EU rules, could turn out to be a political time bomb. Brexit has released centrifugal forces that cannot be tamed by even the most skilful repair instructions such as the new “Windsor Framework” for Northern Ireland.
The British also fear lower food standards
Two points could at least slow down the island kingdom from drifting further away from the European continent. The great time pressure with which the British government wants to cramme the “purgatory” for EU law through Parliament not only overwhelms the state bureaucracy.
The wave of deregulation is celebrated in London as the “Brexit Dividend”.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
It also unsettles companies, regulators and investors. “The speed with which the government intends to review existing EU law is a recipe for bad legislation,” criticizes the British Law Society. The UK Chamber of Commerce is already calling for an extension to 2026.
The other brake is the British voters. Contrary to the impression on the continent, it is by no means the case that the majority of Britons are just waiting to free themselves from many protective rules from the EU period. For example, the prospect of a trade deal with the US has raised fears that the UK may soon be eating food imports containing chemical additives that are banned in Europe. And it’s not just about the infamous “chlorine chickens”.
More: Is the repentance process beginning in the UK now?