EU to start legal battle with the UK ‘within days’ over post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland as minister Brandon Lewis defends ‘lawful’ action to ease trade problems

• Ministers unilaterally extended grace periods linked to Northern Ireland Protocol
• Prompted war of words between Westminster and Brussels weeks after deal 
• Problems with trade checks linked to Brexit have raised sectarian fears in Ulster 

The EU is poised to launch legal action against the UK over its decision to unilaterally alter the Brexit Agreement rules on Northern Ireland to ease trade problems that have dogged the country for months. 

Ministers last week unilaterally extended grace periods limiting bureaucracy linked to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs trade post-Brexit, until October. They had been due to expire at the end of March. 

It prompted a war of words between Westminster and Brussels, coming just weeks after the arrangement was signed by Boris Johnson in December. 

According to the Guardian, the EU will this week trigger ‘infringement proceedings’ that could end up at the European Court of Justice and trigger the official dispute mechanism baked into the Brexit deal.

European commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic is said to have briefed EU27 ambassadors on the latest developments yesterday. 

But Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis defended the actions today in the Commons. Answering an Urgent Question from Louise Haigh, he said they were ‘lawful’ and backed by a ‘range of businesses and the communities’ in Northern Ireland.

He said: ‘If we had not taken this action last week, we’d have seen disruption to food supplies in literally the next couple of weeks.’

He added the measures are ‘consistent with a progressive and good faith implementation’ of the Protocol, and do not change the UK’s legal obligations, with discussions continuing with the EU.’

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis defended the actions today in the Commons. Answering an Urgent Question from Louise Haigh, he said they were ‘lawful’ and backed by a ‘range of businesses and the communities’ in Northern Ireland.

European commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic is said to have briefed EU27 ambassadors on the latest developments yesterday.

Fears have been rising about sectarian tensions with unionists saying the EU is imposing unnecessary checks and demanding the arrangements are abandoned altogether.

Fears have been rising about sectarian tensions with unionists saying the EU is imposing unnecessary checks and demanding the arrangements are abandoned altogether.

The Northern Ireland protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement was designed by the EU and UK to avoid a hardening of the border on the island of Ireland.

It means keeping Northern Ireland aligned to various EU rules, requiring checks on goods arriving into the region from Great Britain.

Ms Haigh had said the Government’s unilateral response meant its ‘words cannot be trusted’ by the EU and others. 

‘It raises serious questions about whether the Government has a strategy at all to deal with the complex realities facing Northern Ireland,’ she said.

‘Provocation is not a strategy and a stop gap is not a solution.’

Ms Haigh asked the UK Government to outline its intentions, adding: ‘Is it to push the Protocol to breaking point and undermine the cast-iron commitment to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, or is it to find the solutions that businesses are crying out for?’

She also said: ‘This is an extraordinary position for a government to be in – having to break the law and trash Britain’s international reputation to remove checks they claimed never existed.’ 

Simon Hoare, Conservative chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, asked whether the Government ‘understands the very destabilising effect on trust that such unilateral action brings on both UK-EU relations and on UK-Irish relations’.

He said: ‘Can I urge the Government to desist from a narrative of unilateral action and debate, get round the joint committee table and make sure that the protocol works, that everybody understands that it’s here to stay and that it can benefit very significantly the people, the economy and communities of Northern Ireland?’

The DUP’s Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: ‘What we need is a permanent solution to this problem, and frankly the sooner the better.’

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