Brexit: UK agrees to withdraw controversial plan to breach international law
UK has also pledged not to introduce further measures in a finance bill due before the UK Parliament, that also would have contravened the EU divorce treaty
The British government has agreed in principle to withdraw contentious clauses from Brexit legislation that have caused a furore with the EU.
The measures in the UK Internal Market Bill would have overridden parts of the binding EU divorce deal concerning trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, breaching international law, reports the Euro News.
UK has also pledged not to introduce further measures in a finance bill due before the UK Parliament, that also would have contravened the EU divorce treaty.
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The news of the British about-turn came in a joint announcement from senior UK minister Michael Gove and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, co-chairs of the Joint Committee that oversees the exit deal's application relating to Northern Ireland.
It would appear to be a climbdown by Boris Johnson's government, which is struggling to reach a last-ditch deal on trade and future relations with the EU before the post-Brexit transition period expires at the end of the year.
The plan to ditch parts of the divorce deal had put a huge spanner in the works of those separate trade negotiations, souring relations with the EU and with Ireland in particular.
In their statement, Gove and Sefcovic said agreement had been reached over all issues relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol, part of the binding Withdrawal Agreement that set the terms for the UK's departure from the EU last January.
"In view of these mutually agreed solutions, the UK will withdraw clauses 44, 45 and 47 of the UK Internal Market Bill, and not introduce any similar provisions in the Taxation Bill," they said.
