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Incoming-President Joe Biden is already weighing in on foreign policies especially on the Brexit deal with the United Kingdom and the European Union. Biden recently revealed that he has urged UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson into making a trade deal with the EU following Brexit.
Speaking to the press in Delaware, Biden said he had spoken with Johnson, as well as the Irish Taoiseach and the French government and others involved, and made clear his opposition to a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This comes as negotiations between the United Kingdom and Brussels are in the last days especially as the UK officially left the European Union in January.
It has been believed that bringing back a hard border would be a result of no deal reached between the UK and the EU. This is despite an agreement made in 2019 that the border would stay open when the first deal was made. Johnson’s government appeared to raise these concerns, even more, when he introduced domestic legislation, the Internal Market Bill, that would breach the agreement Johnson made with the EU that would break international law in a “specific and limited way.”
The Internal Market Bill would let the UK ignore parts of the Northern Ireland Protocols in order to keep trade running as seamlessly as possible among the four nations within the UK. According to critics, however, should there be no deal, this may potentially raise the need for customs checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This also comes with concerns that any infrastructure at the border would be at risk of getting vandalized or officers getting attacked which would necessitate a guarded border.
Meanwhile, Biden already revealed the first names of his National Security Council earlier this week. People knowledgeable about the matter have revealed who the president-elect may be considering who would be part of his National Economic Council. TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson may be considered for the post of National Economic Council director and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler may be serving as Deputy Treasury Secretary. Former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault may also be tapped to serve in the council in a top post.
