Sefcovic draws red line in 'massive' dispute with UK covering 20 topics – Brexit latest

Published date18 April 2021
Publication titleExpress, The/The Express on Sunday: Web Edition Articles (London, England)
The UK and European Union remain locked in discussions over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Lord David Frost and the EU Commission vice-president agreed last week to step up talks to ensure goods flow smoothly between the UK and EU via Northern Ireland. The discussions also come on the back of growing political unrest in the country, which has seen rioting on the streets in loyalist areas of Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Protocol tied Belfast to the EU customs union and single market, while the rest of the UK is not, but this has resulted issues at the border.

The UK already took the unilateral decision to extend grace periods for further checks until the winter.

Mr Sefcovic has now thrown the gauntlet down to Boris Johnson and warned the EU will not accept a deal which put any “risk to the integrity of the single market”.

Speaking to the Financial Times, the EU chief acknowledged the complexity of the protocol and called for a “good faith approach”.

He said: “It’s not easy to do, it’s a massive, massive task.

“But what we need is the good faith approach and the proper implementation of all the commitments [already] undertaken, so we see the system working, and then we can look at the risks which are associated with different measures being applied.”

This week, Brexit minister Lord Frost travelled to Brussels in a fresh bid to resolve tensions over Mr Johnson's trade deal.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "This meeting is part of our ongoing engagement with the EU to work through the outstanding issues with the protocol, in order to restore confidence on the ground, reflect the needs of communities and respect all dimensions of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

"The discussions so far have been constructive but there are still significant differences that need to be resolved.

"Both the UK and EU are continuing to engage with business, civil society and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland to understand the issues they are facing."

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Leo Varadkar has also urged the European Union to cut "officiousness" or red tape and admitted Brussels is "poorer" without the UK as tensions across Northern Ireland and the Republic increase.

Mr Varadkar told a European Movement Ireland seminar: "In practice, despite our enormous differences, Ireland aligned itself with the United Kingdom on most of the everyday issues that the European Union dealt with.

"As a free-trade, pro-enterprise and pro-competition champion, we tended to adopt similar positions and similar opt-outs to the UK.

"The European Union without the United Kingdom is a weaker and poorer place."

But Mr Varadkar added how achieving progress requires "realism, generosity, practicality and reduced officiousness from Brussels".

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