Britain warns of “cold mistrust” if EU does not move forward in Northern Irish trade

LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Britain-EU clash over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland threatens to create “cold mistrust” over wider relationship between London and bloc, he said on Saturday the British Brexit minister.

David Frost said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government did not want to sweep away the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, but it did need “substantial and significant change”.

These changes covered the transfer of goods to Northern Ireland, the rules for goods and the governance agreements.

“I want to be clear that any response that avoids a serious compromise with these ideas and that only seeks to drag the process down in the end will not work for us,” Frost said in a speech to the British-Irish Association.

The EU launched infringement proceedings against Britain in March over changes to Northern Ireland’s trade agreements which, according to Brussels, breached the Brexit divorce agreement reached with London last year.

The bloc’s executive said in July it was suspending the lawsuit after London asked for a suspension period.

The protocol seeks to protect a 1998 peace agreement by keeping an open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, a member of the EU, without opening a back door to the bloc’s single market.

Merchandise controls between the British mainland and Northern Ireland have disrupted trade flows and outraged unionists who resist any movement they deem to jeopardize the province’s role in the UK.

Report by William Schomberg Edited by Helen Popper

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