LONDON: The United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) on Thursday disagreed on how to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol issue following Brexit. If the EU does not demonstrate the "necessary flexibility" over the protocol, London says it will "have no choice but to act."
As per reports, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a phone call with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic that her country's top priority was to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, and that the protocol had become the biggest roadblock to forming a Northern Ireland Executive.
According to the news release, Truss also "outlined why EU ideas will send us backwards by adding additional checks and paperwork." Sefcovic said in a statement on Thursday that it remains "of grave worry" that the UK government wants to take unilateral measures. "This is despite the EU proposing a number of broad and meaningful proposals based on our extensive consultation with all Northern Ireland representatives. These suggestions would vastly improve the protocol's implementation "he claimed.
"Only cooperative solutions will work," says Sefcovic, adding unilateral action is "just not acceptable." The divide between the UK and the EU has lately widened as disagreements over the protocol, which states that Northern Ireland is part of the UK's customs territory but is subject to the EU's customs code, VAT laws, and single market rules for goods.
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