Lord Frost discusses the deadline for invoking Article 16

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The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister warned that the economic bloc would respond in a “very serious way” if the Government were to trigger Article 16 of the Protocol. Article 16 allows either side to unilaterally suspend parts of the agreement if the deal has caused undue harm to trade.

The Protocol – intended to allow access to the EU’s single market via Northern Ireland – has caused issues and border delays as goods have to be checked when they move across the Irish Sea.

In July, the Prime Minister said that “all the conditions have been met” to trigger Article 16.

It is believed that the UK Government could make such a move later this month, following the conclusion of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Last month Brexit Secretary Lord Frost said: “We would not go down this route gratuitously or with any particular pleasure.”

The trade and cooperation agreement reached between the UK and the EU, which includes the Protocol, Mr Coveney said was “contingent” on the Withdrawal Agreement.

He added: “So if one is being set aside, there is a danger that the other will also be set aside by the EU.”

Mr Coveney told RTE Radio One today (Sunday) that the EU’s harsher stance would not mean the introduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

In recent weeks, it was reported that Boris Johnson has already assembled a committee to discuss the consequences of triggering Article 16 of the withdrawal agreement.

Lord Frost has already begun communicating with Tory MPs to brief them on the situation and gather their support in the event the Government does trigger Article 16.

The EU has already rejected calls for a new Protocol to be drafted.

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Instead, in an attempt to appease the UK, earlier last month the European Commission suggested some reforms to the existing agreement.

They include cutting paperwork on imports via the Irish border, in exchange for more import data for surveillance.

It also said it would be willing to cut checks on food safety, including cold meats such as British sausages.

Mr Coveney claimed the EU was currently in “solutions mode” and could go a “little further” with concessions, but warned there was a limit to their flexibility.

He believed that if the UK Government “essentially refuses to implement the Protocol, even with the extraordinary flexibilities that are now on offer, and instead looks to set it aside then I think the EU will respond in a very serious way to that”.

Speaking to the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee last week, Lord Frost claimed the proposals from the EU did not go far enough.

He said: “I’m not sure they would quite deliver the kind of ambitious freeing-up of trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland that we want to see.”

He added that “what we’re trying to test is whether they could find the basis to go further than what they have put on the table.

“That’s the kind of discussions we have been having and it has been quite constructive so far, but the gaps between us remain significant, and there is a lot of working through to go.”

The Government wants to see the end of the European Court of Justice’s oversight in Northern Ireland, to be replaced with an arbitration system when it comes to implementing EU law in Northern Ireland.

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