Post-Brexit deal: UK escalates dispute with EU over N. Ireland protocol
Brussels fears the British government will reject its offer to scrap 80 per cent of checks on goods entering Northern Ireland, after the bloc went the “extra mile” to find a solution to post-Brexit trade friction over the Irish Sea.
The EU said it was “preparing for the worst” over the issue as the UK studies the details of the proposal.
Although London has said it will look “seriously and constructively” at the bloc’s package, one likely sticking point is minister Lord Frost’s demand that the European Court of Justice (ECJ)’s jurisdiction be removed from the Brexit deal.
“Without new arrangements on governance the protocol will never have the support it needs to survive,” a British source told The Independent.
Meanwhile, João Vale de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the UK, told BBC2’s Newsnight that the bloc had gone “the extra mile” and had offered an “unprecedented” solution.
“Today we went to the limits of what we can do to address the problems of Northern Ireland because we care for Northern Ireland. These problems were caused by Brexit,” he said.
Brussels ‘preparing for worst’ over Brexit offer
Brussels believes the UK will reject its offer to scrap 80 per cent of checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
One European diplomat said the proposed solution to post-Brexit trade friction was “unprecedented”, adding that the bloc could not offer anything more.
However, the UK has signalled that the proposal does not go far enough.
Rory Sullivan14 October 2021 07:49
Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage from Westminster and beyond.
Rory Sullivan14 October 2021 07:45
