UK PM Sunak risks trade war with abolition of 2,400 EU Laws

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In June 2016, 51.8% of UK citizens voted to end the country's membership in the EU, while 48.1% voted to remain in the union. Nonetheless, six and a half years later, the UK is still engaged in a lengthy and convoluted series of negotiations related to its exit from the EU.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to repeal thousands of EU laws by the end of 2023 could spark a full-fledged trade war between London and Brussels, according to senior European Union officials.

Meanwhile, EU leaders are said to be secretly planning their own "unilateral rebalancing measures" in Brussels. These measures could include the option of imposing tariffs on UK goods entering the EU single market, according to media reports.

All of this could result in a trade war with the EU and serious economic damage to the UK.

'Green channel'

According to the British press, the planned post-Brexit revision of the UK's lawbooks may delete more than 2,400 laws without much scrutiny.

Tensions between the UK and the EU rose in June 2022, when the Johnson government introduced a Bill unilaterally revising the Northern Ireland Protocol provisions. The cabinet claimed that the agreement was not working because it caused delays and disruptions in the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country.

Read next: Brexit accounts for 6% of the food price increase in the UK

The bill called for the creation of a "green channel" for goods transported from the United Kingdom, as well as a change in tax rules that would deprive the European Court of its role as the sole arbiter of disputes.

This move provoked the anger of the EU and prompted Brussels to take legal action against London.

Reunification with Ireland

Northern Ireland's situation has recently deteriorated after the Sinn Fein party, which advocates for reunification with Ireland, won a majority of seats in the Northern Irish assembly for the first time in its history.

Read next: EU Warns UK Against Trying to Suspend NI Protocol

After 47 years of membership, the country left the EU on January 31, 2020. The UK was no longer a member of the EU but remained in the EU single market and customs union during the transition period, which lasted until December 31, 2020.

London and Brussels managed to negotiate an agreement on trade and cooperation during that period.