The European Commission Wednesday initiated two new legal proceedings against the UK after the UK announced plans to override post-Brexit rules governing trade with Northern Ireland. The conflict arose over UK-initiated changes to post-Brexit trade deals with the EU.
The conflict arose during negotiations between the UK and the EU in Brexit. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland was established to maintain an open border between the UK and Ireland, which remained in the EU. In essence, the protocol upholds the 1998 Good Friday Agreement by preventing customs declarations and checks for imports crossing between the two countries.
A recently proposed bill in the UK Parliament seeks to unilaterally change protocol rules between the Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Specifically, the bill would remove customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from other UK territories, which are otherwise in place under the protocol.
As a result, the European Commission has brought two new suits against the UK. The new suits allege the UK has failed to provide adequate staff and infrastructure to carry out trade checks in Northern Ireland and failed to provide the EU with sufficient trade data between the two countries. The European Commission also re-raised a legal proceeding over movement of agri-food products, which was paused a year ago.
The European Commission claims the UK has implemented the protocol as it initially promised to do in Brexit negotiations. The European Commission hopes the legal proceedings will restore protocol compliance.
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said of the proceedings:
The UK is not respecting the Protocol…The EU and the UK must work together to address the practical problems that the Protocol creates in Northern Ireland due to Brexit…I call on my UK counterparts to engage in good faith and explore the full potential of the solutions we have put forward. Only joint solutions will create the legal certainty that people and businesses in Northern Ireland deserve.
