BRUSSELS – The European Union announced on Monday that it is taking legal action against Britain for what it called a breach of a legal agreement on Brexit and Northern Ireland, which was part of a trade pact signed between the two parts last year.
European officials said Brussels was responding to a move this month by the British government to unilaterally facilitate trade and border rules for Northern Ireland companies, extending a grace period for implementing the Brexit agreement.
According to a protocol on Northern Ireland that was part of the pact, Britain is obliged to consult the European Union on changes in its implementation – which it has not done. The protocol was intended to ensure that there was no rigid border between Ireland, a member of the bloc, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
The authorities said Britain unilaterally broke the agreement twice in the past six months, first with a bill last December that removed some elements objected to by the European Union, and then with the unilateral decision earlier this month to extend a grace period for British products arriving in Northern Ireland until October 1st.
The Northern Ireland Protocol establishes a border between Great Britain and the European Union in the Irish Sea, effectively keeping Northern Ireland within the single European market for goods. Britain has left the single market, so maintaining the smooth flow of goods from the continent to Northern Ireland, despite new legal controls for health regulations and considerable paperwork, has been a significant problem.
That is why both sides have agreed to a grace period on several border requirements, to be executed by the end of March, to adjust to the agreement, which came into force on January 1.
But trade interruptions in Northern Ireland were so severe that Britain decided to extend the grace period for food and packages and vegetables – and to include other issues, like pets, that had not been agreed – for six months, until October.
The British government denied having violated the agreement, arguing that the unilateral extension of the grace periods was common in trade agreements, a position rejected by European authorities.
Speaking in Coventry on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the British actions were “temporary and technical measures that we think are very sensible”. He said Britain expected “our discussions with our friends in the EU and to see where we got to”.
A Downing Street spokesman said on Monday that the measures were “temporary to avoid disturbances in Northern Ireland”.
Britain remains committed to the Northern Ireland protocol, the spokesman said, and wants to resolve the problems that have arisen on the border with Brussels through the appropriate channels.
But so far, said a European Union official, the stated British desire has not been reflected in facts or actions. Britain’s actions undermined confidence in its word, the official said, arguing that the only way forward would be to try to restore both parties’ confidence and commitment to the agreement they negotiated. Britain also violated the “duty in good faith” requirement in Article 5 of the withdrawal agreement that governed Brexit, the official said.
European officials said that despite the initiation of legal action, they hope that further discussions between Brussels and London will resolve the problems before the issue reaches any court.
Maros Sefcovic, the bloc’s main Brexit official, wrote to David Frost, his British counterpart, asking Britain to refrain from putting the unilateral measures into practice and instead work with Brussels to find joint solutions that can provide stability and predictability to British companies.
“The EU and the United Kingdom agreed to the protocol together,” wrote Sefcovic. “We must also implement it together. Unilateral decisions and breaches of international law by the UK nullify their own purpose and undermine trust between us. “
Relations between Britain and the European Union have been biased for some time on issues surrounding the Northern Ireland protocol, the larger agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc and on the supply of vaccines.
Brussels accused Britain of withholding vaccines scheduled for Europe and even of banning, which does not exist, the export of vaccines. In return, the British government praised the speed and success of its acquisition and implementation of vaccines, comparing them to the slower pace of the European Union, and argued that Brexit made that success possible.
The legal process during the grace period allows Britain to answer one month and another month for examination. If not resolved before then, Britain could be brought to the European Court of Justice and suffer trade sanctions.