Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet for dinner while trying to reach a breakthrough in a post-Brexit trade deal on December 9, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium.
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LONDON – The European Union is threatening to take further legal action against the UK because of differences in its post-Brexit trade deals.
As part of its exit from the EU, the United Kingdom agreed to carry out checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea, going from Scotland, Wales and England to Northern Ireland. The latter remained part of the EU’s single market for goods to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland in what is known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The United Kingdom had until the end of this month to submit these checks, but decided to extend the implementation period until October. A move that the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, violates its agreement and, therefore, international law.
Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission, “expressed the EU’s strong concerns about the unilateral action of the United Kingdom, as this amounts to a violation of the relevant substantive provisions of the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday before a call between EU and UK representatives.
“The European Commission will respond to these developments in accordance with established legal means,” the statement also said.
The UK government said it informed the commission “earlier this week” before making the announcement public and that extending the grace period for implementation is a temporary “technical step” to provide more time for companies such as supermarkets and parcel operators adapt to implement the new requirements. “
Supermarkets and other food retailers will need health certificates when shipping products of animal origin.
Simon Coveney, Ireland’s head of foreign affairs, said in a statement that the UK decision was “profoundly useless to build a relationship of trust and partnership that is central to the implementation of the Protocol.”
“The focus of the Irish Government continues to ensure that the Protocol, as an international agreement concluded by the EU and the United Kingdom, is fully implemented. It is the agreed solution to the problems created on the island of Ireland by Brexit,” he added.
Coveney said he regretted the change during a meeting with Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Lord Forst, the cabinet minister in charge of EU-UK relations.
This is not the first time that Brussels and London are at odds over their post-Brexit deals.
In October last year, the EU initiated legal proceedings against the United Kingdom after the government introduced a bill that would have annulled the same agreement on Northern Ireland.
In the end, after several weeks of meetings and discussions, the UK decided to withdraw the controversial clauses from the bill, which paved the way for a trade agreement to be closed on 24 December.