EU offers to cut 80% of GB-Northern Ireland checks on some goods to end ‘sausage war’
The EU has offered to cut 80% of checks on some goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in an effort to avoid a post-Brexit trade clash.
It has drawn up plans designed to ease the flow of items across the Irish Sea, including chilled meats, to put an end to the so-called “sausage war”.
The plans have been published a day after the UK’s Brexit minister Lord Frost demanded a new Northern Ireland Protocol – which is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
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‘Be flexible, find compromises’ for NI protocol
Lord Frost’s opposite number in the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, called the proposals “far-reaching” as he published four papers that officials will tonight take to London to begin negotiations immediately.
Under the plans, the transport of certain foods and items of animal origin will be vastly simplified.
Mr Sefcovic said in practical terms it would mean a lorry carrying a mixture of dairy, fish and confectionary would only require one certificate instead of multiple certificates for each item.
The number of physical checks on lorries will be drastically reduced and customs paperwork will be cut by 50%.
The UK has argued the protocol is not working, with delays and interruptions to supplies moving between the UK and Northern Ireland.
But the EU is hoping what it has called a “dramatic simplification” of the rules will bring Westminster on side, allowing for “a type of express lane that will facilitate the movement of goods”.
The papers also include plans to ensure the free flow of medicines between Great Britain and the Northern Ireland by changing EU laws.
Mechanisms will be altered to ensure the participation of Northern Ireland politicians and communities in the ongoing implementation of the protocol.
The EU says the proposals are significant, going way beyond tinkering around the edges.
But the documents do not address the controversial issue of the European Court of Justice, which under the current agreement is the final arbiter in alleged breaches of the protocol.
Lord Frost has insisted that is not acceptable, despite the UK signing the agreement. The EU insists the issue is not negotiable.
Northern Ireland’s DUP, the country’s largest pro-British party, said the proposals are a starting point but fall “a long way short” of the fundamental change needed.
“We will take time to study the detail of the papers produced. However there is no escaping the reality that the
Northern Ireland Protocol has harmed Northern Ireland, both in economic and constitutional terms,” said party leader Jeffrey Donaldson.
Lord Frost and Mr Sefcovic are expected to meet in the next few days to discuss the plans which the EU says it hopes will lead to full implementation of the protocol.
However, the meeting will come just days after Lord Frost warned the UK could trigger Article 16, suspending parts of the agreement – and leading the two sides into dangerous territory.
Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates is yet to receive a reply from Sir Keir Starmer, despite writing to him over a month ago.
Sir Alan said he had written to the prime minister to remind him the “clock is still ticking” on a financial redress deadline for victims.
In his letter, he demanded a March 2025 deadline for compensation for sub-postmaster victims of the Horizon scandal.
Sir Alan confirmed to Sky News he was yet to hear back from the prime minister.
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“It was over a month ago,” he said.
“I sent him a reminder yesterday. I told him the clock is still ticking and it’s now five months from the March deadline, which I’m told is still achievable by other professionals.
“So let’s get on with it, that’s all we want. Get on with it.”
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A £15bn merger between two of the UK’s biggest mobile networks could get the green light – if they stick to their commitments to invest in the country’s infrastructure, the competition watchdog has said.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the merger of Vodafone and Three had “the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector”.
Announced last year, the proposed £15bn merger would bring 27 million customers together under a single provider.
The watchdog previously warned that tens of millions of mobile phone users could end up paying more if the merger went ahead.
However, the two groups recently set out plans to protect consumer pricing and boost network investment.
The CMA has now laid out a list of “remedies” required for the deal to go-ahead.
They include the networks committing to freezing certain tariffs and data plans for at least three years to protect customers from short-term price rises in the early years of the network plan.
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From September: ‘A transformation for the UK’
Stuart McIntosh, chair of the inquiry group leading the investigation, said on Tuesday: “We believe this deal has the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector if our concerns are addressed.
“Our provisional view is that binding commitments combined with short-term protections for consumers and wholesale providers would address our concerns while preserving the benefits of this merger.
“A legally binding network commitment would boost competition in the longer term and the additional measures would protect consumers and wholesale customers while the network upgrades are being rolled out.”
Today’s announcement is provisional, with a final decision due before 7 December. The inquiry group is inviting feedback on today’s announcement by 5pm on 12 November.
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The CMA also published a list of potential solutions – which it called remedies – to issues it identified with the merger.
If the networks want the merger to go ahead, the watchdog requires Vodafone and Three to:
• Deliver a joint network plan to set out network upgrades and improvements over eight years;
• Commit to keeping certain existing tariff costs and data plans for at least three years to protect customers from price hikes;
• Commit to pre-agreed prices and contract terms so Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) – mobile providers that do not own the networks they operate on – can obtain competitive wholesale deals.
Vodafone and Three are two of the biggest mobile firms in the UK, and their networks support a number of MVNOs including Asda Mobile, Lebara, Voxi, and Smarty.
Responding to the watchdog’s announcement, a spokesperson for Vodafone on behalf of the merger said: “The merger will be a catalyst for positive change.
“It will bring significant benefits to businesses and consumers throughout the UK, and it will bring advanced 5G to every school and hospital across the country.
“The merger is also closely aligned with the government’s mission to drive growth and to encourage more private investment in the UK.”
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Earlier this year, Three’s chief executive hit out at the UK’s “abysmal” 5G speeds and availability as he urged regulators to approve the company’s merger with Vodafone.
Robert Finnegan noted his firm’s “cash flows have been negative since 2020 and our costs have almost doubled in five years, meaning investment in [the] network is unsustainable”.
“UK mobile networks rank an abysmal 22nd out of 25 in Europe on 5G speeds and availability, with the dysfunctional structure of the market denying us the ability to invest sustainably to fix this situation,” he added.
Business leaders expressed frustration with ministers on Monday amid a growing budget backlash that bosses said would trigger an “avalanche of costs” and leave them with no choice but to slash investment and increase prices.
Sky News has learnt that bosses of large retail and hospitality companies and trade associations told Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, that last week’s budget risked damaging consumer confidence and exacerbating challenges facing the UK economy.
Among the dozens of companies represented on the call are said to have been Burger King UK, Fuller Smith & Turner, Greene King, Kingfisher and the supermarket chain Morrisons.
Mr Reynolds is said to have acknowledged that Rachel Reeves‘s inaugural fiscal statement had “asked a lot” of British business, with James Murray, the financial secretary to the Treasury, understood to have described it as “a once-in-a-generation budget”, according to several people briefed on the call.
Jonathan Reynolds. Pic: PA
One insider said that Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of Greene King, had highlighted that the increase in employers’ national insurance (NI) contributions would cause “a £20m shock” to the company, while Fullers is understood to have warned that it would be forced to halve annual investment from £60m to £30m as a result of increased cost pressures.
Rami Baitieh, the Morrisons chief executive, told Mr Reynolds that the budget had exacerbated “an avalanche of costs” for businesses next year, and asked what the government could do to mitigate them.
Sources added that the CBI, the employers’ group, said its impact would be “severe”, while the British Beer & Pub Association added that there was now a disincentive to invest and flagged “a tsunami” of higher costs.
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How will the budget affect businesses?
The range of comments on the call with ministers underlines the scale of discontent in the private sector about Labour’s first budget for nearly 15 years.
Only a small number of interventions during the discussion are said to have been in support of measures announced last week, with the Federation of Small Businesses understood to have praised the doubling of the employment allowance, which would see many of the smallest employers having their NI bills cut by £2,000.
The Department for Business and Trade has been contacted for comment, while none of the companies contacted by Sky News would comment.
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