BRUSSELS: The European Union has initiated four new infringement procedures against the United Kingdom for not implementing the Northern Ireland Protocol.

"Despite repeated appeals from the European Parliament, the 27 European Union Member States, and the European Commission (EC) to implement the Protocol," the EC stated in a statement.

The first infringement procedure concerns the United Kingdom's failure to comply with statutory customs rules, which increases the risk of smuggling via Northern Ireland, according to reports.

The second concerns the UK's "failure" to notice the transposition of EU law establishing general EU excise duty rules, which was due by December 31, 2021. According to the European Commission, this poses a budgetary risk to the EU "in relation to movements of products subject to excise charges to/from Northern Ireland."

The third procedure addresses the UK's "failure" to notice the transposition of EU laws on excise charges on alcoholic beverages, which was also due by December 31, 2021.  The final one is about the United Kingdom's "failure to apply EU laws on value-added tax (VAT) for e-commerce."

The first step in the infringement procedure is to submit letters to the British authorities, which was done on Friday, requesting "rapid corrective efforts to restore conformity with the requirements of the protocol." The Northern Ireland Protocol, which is included in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, is intended to prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. As a result, the boundary has been relocated to the Irish Sea.

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