Statement by TUV vice chairman Causeway councillor Allister Kyle:
“Today’s report in Politico on the potential of separate UK and EU carbon tax is a timely reminder to those who need it what a Sea Border is. Given the apparent confusion in the mind of the interim DUP leader on the issue, he would do well to read it.
“While the issue is unlikely to become live for a number of years, the report highlights the fact that the UK and EU are planning separate schemes to tax high carbon imports. The EU costs are intended to fully apply from 2026 while the UK plan to introduce them from 2027. Additionally, the UK charge is likely to be lower.
“There is now speculation that the EU could push for the carbon tax, and the accompanying paperwork, to be applied to goods coming to Northern Ireland from Great Britain. Even if the UK were to align carbon charges with the EU, Northern Ireland business would still have to submit paperwork about the carbon intensity of their goods would face the costs of doing so, making them less competitive.
“Tellingly, the DUP have yet to comment on the issue in spite of multiple requests to do so.
“Once again, we face the consequences of being governed by foreign laws which we do not make and cannot change.”