Brussels has warned that it will initiate legal action “very soon” after action by the United Kingdom to unilaterally delay the implementation of part of the Brexit agreement for Northern Ireland.
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said that the government’s announcement on Wednesday was a “very negative surprise”.
Cabinet Frost David Frost said the UK was extending a series of “grace periods” designed to facilitate trade between Northern Ireland – which remains in the EU’s single market for goods – and Britain as Permanent agreements are agreed.
It provoked a furious response in Brussels, with the EU accusing Britain of falling back on its treaty obligations under the Brexit withdrawal agreement designed to ensure that there is no return from a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Šefčovič – who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the agreement – said that the European Commission is now working on an “infringement procedure” against the United Kingdom.
“We are currently preparing this and it would be something really coming to our table very soon. The most accurate term I can give is very soon, ”he said.
His warning came after Boris Johnson tried to minimize the dispute, saying the government was simply taking some “technical and temporary steps” to ensure that trade continued to flow.
“I’m sure that, with a little goodwill and common sense, all of these technical problems are eminently solvable,” he said on Thursday.
However, MEPs in the European Parliament have already taken steps to delay formal ratification of the broader trade and cooperation agreement between Britain and the EU pending the outcome of the latest dispute.
The Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement means keeping Northern Ireland in line with various EU rules, requiring checks on goods arriving in the region of Great Britain.