Ulster Unionists to back DUP opposition to EU law at Stormont

Sir Jeffrey told the News Letter that the law on intellectual property is “not only harmful to our economy but a threat to the United Kingdom internal market as a whole”.

The DUP move is under an ‘applicability motion’ – and their opposition now looks likely to receive UUP backing on Tuesday.

Under the Protocol, the UK government must first approve new laws the EU wants to apply to Northern Ireland – but if they don’t, there can be retaliatory action by the EU.

The ‘applicability motion’ is effectively a unionist or nationalist veto – but only at Stormont level. Opposition from the DUP and UUP would mean it wouldn’t have the necessary cross-community consent.

But local politicians can’t stop the new law – they can only effectively ask the UK government to stop it.

The government can decide to proceed with it if it feels it doesn’t create a ‘new regulatory border’ within the United Kingdom – or ‘materially divert trade’ or ‘materially impair the free flow of goods’.

The EU also retains the ability to take ‘appropriate remedial measures’ and take ‘any necessary decision’ in response to the law being blocked.

An Ulster Unionist spokesperson told the News Letter: “This proposed legislation creates a number of concerns, which have been raised many times by Dr. Steve Aiken MLA, as a members statement in the Assembly chamber on two occasions, and at numerous meetings of the Windsor Framework Scrutiny Committee.

“Dr. Aiken has also written seeking clarification from the Executive Office, concerns that have been largely ignored until recent days.

“With the Assembly now finding itself responsible for the additional duty of considering the potential impact that new EU legislation may have on Northern Ireland and our place within the United Kingdom, we must emphasise our frustration that there seems to have been a total failure to provide scrutiny, at any level, of this legislation within either The Executive Office or the Windsor Framework Scrutiny committee.

“With these failures resulting in it being impossible to evaluate any possible negative impact brought by this legislation, we as a party cannot vote to accept something that we have no understanding or knowledge of.

“The UUP cannot support this applicability motion. We find it inconceivable that any other party or independent MLA could either.”

The DUP argues the new intellectual property law would create a new regulatory border.

Sir Jeffrey told Saturday’s News Letter: “We will vote decisively against the motion and against the imposition of this EU regulation.”

He said: “The UK Government can only add this new EU regulation to the scope of the Framework with the express consent of both unionists and nationalists voting in the Assembly.

"However, we are not willing to contemplate a situation in which political forces in Dublin and Brussels can use the silence of the Assembly on this or any other piece of EU law to exert pressure on the Government at Westminster to abandon the principle of cross-community consensus.”