British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove
Photographer: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
Photographer: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
The UK and the EU have agreed to work “hard” to resolve their differences over the border with Northern Ireland, while trying to apply a controversy that has threatened to revive the most controversial element of the Brexit solution.
British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic met with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland on Wednesday, a discussion that was “productive”, according to a joint statement.
The meeting came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to suspend parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol due to disruptions to trade across the Irish Sea. In a letter to Sefcovic, Gove called for an extension of the grace periods allowing for the omission of controls on goods circulating between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Tensions have risen significantly in the last week after the European Commission said it would rise control vaccine exports to Northern Ireland – blinding the British and Irish governments and angering unionist political leaders. Even though the EU reversed course in a few hours, this move has affected trust between the two sides.
At a meeting of EU diplomats in Brussels earlier this day, the Irish ambassador told the Commission that his decision undermined confidence in the protocol and the peace process it was designed to protect, according to a note from the meeting seen by Bloomberg News .
Staff in Northern Ireland carrying out post-Brexit checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea have also faced intimidation and threats in recent weeks, a move condemned by Gove and Sefcovic.
“They both unreservedly condemned any threat or intimidation, noting that the safety and well-being of the people of Northern Ireland and our staff would always be the highest priority,” they said.
The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Arlene Foster, continued to demand the elimination of the so-called protocol.
“Sticking plaster solutions and grace periods that hit the road down will not solve these problems,” she said. “The Northern Ireland Protocol did not work, it cannot work.”
– With the assistance of Ian Wishart
(Add comments DUP)