The EU has given the UK two months to respond to legal action in response to Boris Johnson’s plan to break the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission, said UK legislation to repeal parts of the protocol, which regulates Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade agreements, was illegal.
The Commission has confirmed that Brussels will resume legal proceedings against the United Kingdom, which it suspended in September for breaching the 2020 EU withdrawal treaty.
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Mr Sefcovic said: “If the UK does not respond within two months, we can take them to court.”
Brussels is also launching two new lawsuits against the UK, but it also offers what it called a “bakery-ready” solution to the impasse.
Sefcovic said: “Let there be no doubt: there is no legal or political justification for unilaterally changing an international agreement.
“This is illegal. The UK bill is extremely detrimental to mutual trust and respect between the EU and the UK.
“It has created deep uncertainty and overshadows our international cooperation.”
The Northern Ireland Protocol was designed to prevent the return of a hard border with the Republic of Ireland as a result of Brexit.
But in fact, it has created a border on the Irish Sea between Britain and Northern Ireland, which means that goods exported from Britain are subject to customs controls.
The UK government says this has created a headache for businesses and power-sharing agreements established as a result of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The DUP unionist has refused to rejoin the power-sharing executive until the issues are resolved.
The United Kingdom has said that attempts to renegotiate the agreement with Europe have reached a dead end.
He has decided to push through legislation to change the protocol, which was released earlier this week, despite warnings that it would be illegal under international law and could lead to a trade war with Europe.
The government has proposed ruling out some controls on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK and has challenged the role of the EU Court of Justice in overseeing the implementation of parts of the protocol.
Europe’s legal ultimatum refers to the action it originally launched a year ago for the UK’s unilateral decision to extend the so-called grace periods: to prevent the full implementation of the border controls required by the protocol.
This action had been suspended in the light of talks between London and Brussels.
The two new lawsuits – which are not specifically related to the Westminster Protocol Protocol – accuse the UK of failing to ensure adequate staffing and infrastructure to carry out checks in Northern Ireland and failing to provide the EU with trade data. enough.
Sefcovic also illustrated European proposals to ease customs procedures by presenting a three-page sample certificate during a press conference that would accompany a truck carrying various goods according to plans.
“Not 300, not 30, three. That’s how simple it is and what we can do if we work well together,” he said.
“What we’re putting on the table is ready for the oven.”
A spokesman for the UK government said: “It is disappointing that the EU has chosen to relaunch court proceedings related to the current grace periods, which are vital to prevent the problems caused by the protocol from getting worse.
“The UK’s preference is still for a negotiated solution, but the proposals put forward today by the EU are the same proposals we have been discussing for months and would not solve the problems, in many cases they hold us back from current agreements.” .
Analysis by Adam Parsons, correspondent in Europe
Maros Sefcovic took on the air of an angry father as he seemed today: not very furious, but radiating a form of wounded disappointment mixed with the threat of punishment.
He, like the rest of the EU diplomats, knows that the court proceedings will not worry Boris Johnson; in any case, another confrontation with Brussels could be politically useful for the prime minister.
Instead, its aim is to slowly break the UK’s global reputation for observing international law, while portraying the EU as an adult, people who, it claims, are willing to proceed with a negotiated agreement that, insisted Mr. Sefcovic. tongue on the cheek, he’s really “ready for the oven”.
What we have now is strong rhetoric on both sides, with the EU blaming the UK for the stalemate, and vice versa. They both say they appreciate the Good Friday Agreement; both accuse the other of intransigence, dogmatism, and breach of good faith. Mutual trust has evaporated.
What we don’t seem to have is an obvious prospect of a negotiated breakthrough. I don’t think today’s legal action has made things worse; but it has certainly not improved them.