Brexit row explodes as EU announces fresh legal action against UK and revives shelved measures
The European Union just announced fresh legal action against the UK as part of a series of measures in response to the Government’s move to unilaterally scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The European Commission is also resuming legal proceedings against the UK that were shelved last year to facilitate negotiations on post-Brexit trade.
The stalled legal action related to the UK’s unilateral extension of protocol grace periods in 2021.
Resuming the proceedings, the EU is issuing the UK with a ‘reasoned opinion’ and giving it two months to respond. If the UK does not respond to the bloc’s satisfaction, it will refer the matter to European Court of Justice.
Formal notice
The EU is issuing formal notices of action in respect of the two new infringement proceedings, alleging that the SPS checks are not being carried out properly, with insufficient staff and infrastructure in place at the border control posts at the ports in Northern Ireland.
The proceedings outlined on Wednesday do not specifically relate to the content of the Government’s controversial Bill to empower ministers to disapply parts of the protocol. The EU said any potential proceedings over the Bill would only happen when it was enacted.
The EU has also provided more details on proposals it first announced in October last year designed to reduce bureaucracy on customs and SPS processes.
An EU official described the bloc’s response to the UK’s unilateral actions as “proportionate” and “measured but firm”.
European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic told reporters in Brussels the UK Government had set out to “unilaterally break international law”.
The plan would mean “breaking an agreement that protects peace and stability in Northern Ireland, an agreement reached together only three years ago” by Boris Johnson’s Government and the EU.
Mr Sefcovic said: “Let there be no doubt: there is no legal nor political justification whatsoever for unilaterally changing an international agreement.
“Opening the door to unilaterally changing an international agreement is a breach of international law as well.
“So let’s call a spade a spade: this is illegal.”
Maros Sefcovic
The Government’s Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is “extremely damaging to mutual trust and respect between the EU and the UK”, Sefcovic said.
The European Commission vice-president said: “It has created deep uncertainty and casts a shadow over our overall co-operation, all at a time when respect for international agreements has never been more important.
“That is why the Commission has today decided to take legal action against the UK for not complying with significant parts of the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.”
Sefcovic said the UK Government’s plans for Northern Ireland trade would lead to a “monstrous mountain of paperwork” for businesses.
The European Commission vice president brandished three pages of “simple” and “oven-ready” paperwork that businesses would need to fill out under the EU’s proposals.
He told a press conference in Brussels: “Permanent solutions and simple operations of the protocol proposed by the EU versus constant uncertainty with UK ministers having open hand to change the rules on a whim”.