Lord Frost warns of “significant gaps” with EU after latest talks
Following the latest round of talks today in Brussels, between Lord Frost and Maros Sefcovic, the EU Commission Vice President responsible for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight, the UK government has warned that “significant gaps remain across most issues”.
In a statement released on Twitter this afternoon, Lord Frost claimed, “We have not yet made substantive progress on the fundamental customs and SPS issues relating to goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland”.
He added, “I welcome the Vice President’s acknowledgement in his speech this morning that the Protcol has led to unintended consequences in Northern Ireland. Addressing these continues to be the urgent task before us”.
Warning that any solution must constitute a significant move away from the current position, Lord Frost’s statement reaffirmed that, “If no such solution can be found, we remain prepared to use the safeguard provisions under Article 16, which are a legitimate recourse under the Protocol in order for the government to meet its responsibilities to the people of Northern Ireland”.
Article 16 sets out the process for taking unilateral “safeguard” measures if either the EU or UK concludes that the current deal is leading to serious practical problems or causing a diversion of trade.
Should the UK government enact Article 16 it would in effect amount to suspending parts of the previously agreed Brexit arrangement. This could in turn lead the EU to take “proportionate rebalancing measures”. These could potentially involve the EU imposing tariffs on UK goods albeit only after a further lengthy arbitration process.
The Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has previously warned that triggering Article 16 would undermine relations between the UK and Ireland.
Discussions are set to continue between the negotiating teams next week with Lord Frost and Commissioner Sefcovic due to meet again in person next Friday.
