UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove
Photographer: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
Photographer: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
The UK and the EU have agreed to work “intensely” to resolve their differences over the Northern Ireland border as they try to mark a controversy that has threatened to revive the most controversial element of the Brexit deal.
UK 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 took place after the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson threatened to suspend parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol due to the disruption it is causing in trade across the Irish Sea. In a letter to Sefcovic, Gove called for an extension of the grace periods that allow bypassing some controls on goods circulating between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Tension had risen significantly last week after the European Commission said so controlling vaccine exports to Northern Ireland, hiding the UK and Irish government and infuriating unionist political leaders. Although the EU reversed course in a few hours, the measure damaged confidence between the two sides.
At a meeting of EU diplomats in Brussels earlier in the day, the Irish ambassador told the Commission that his decision had undermined confidence in the protocol and peace process it was designed to protect. according to a note from the meeting seen by Bloomberg News.
Northern Ireland staff carrying out post-Brexit checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea have also faced intimidation and threats in recent weeks, a fact condemned by Gove and Sefcovic.
“They both unreservedly condemned any threat or intimidation, and noted that the safety and well-being of the people of Northern Ireland and our staff would always be the top priority,” they said.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster continued to demand that the so-called protocol be rejected.
“Sticking gypsum solutions and grace periods that throw the can will not solve these problems,” he said. “The Northern Ireland Protocol has not worked, it cannot work.”
– With the assistance of Ian Wishart
(Add comments DUP)