The European Commission on Friday launched four new legal proceedings against the UK for non-compliance with the customs provisions imposed after Brexit for Northern Ireland.
(Read: EU takes legal action against the United Kingdom for breaching the post-Brexit agreement)
In total, the European executive has launched seven processes of this type against London over the Northern Ireland protocol, a source of tension between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
(You are interested in: The United Kingdom will present a rule that annuls parts of the Northern Irish protocol)
“Despite repeated calls from the European Parliament, the 27 member states and the European Commission to implement the protocol (on Northern Ireland), the UK has not done so,” the Commission said in a statement.
The Commission noted “the UK’s refusal to engage in serious debate since last February” and the passage of a Northern Ireland Protocol Bill through the British Parliament.
British legislators adopted at the end of June in a first reading a controversial bill that unilaterally changes the customs conditions of the British province and this draft continues its course, but the EU considers it illegal.
“It is disappointing that the EU has chosen to take further legal actionin particular in relation to goods leaving Northern Ireland for Great Britain, which obviously do not represent any risk to the European single market,” a British government spokesman replied.
“Legal disputes are in no one’s interest and will not solve the problems facing people and businesses in Northern Ireland,” he added.
The four new infringement procedures unveiled on Friday are in addition to three others announced -or relaunched for one of them- on June 15.
They can lead to action before the Court of Justice of the EU and penalty payments.
AFP
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