The European Union announced today that it has reopened infringement lawsuits against the United Kingdom for violating the Brexit agreements that were discontinued in November last year, and that two more lawsuits have been filed.
The announcement came after Boris Johnson’s government passed a law that unilaterally abolished all key elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Regarding the suspended procedure opened in March last year, the European Commission will send its reasoned opinion, which is the second stage of the judicial process. Official notification letters will be sent for two new actions.
“There is no political justification for unilaterally changing an international agreement. It is a violation of international law, it is illegal. It grossly violates trust, creates deep uncertainty and shadows our cooperation in general. This is unacceptable,” said the Vice-President of the European Union. Commission, Maros Sefcovic.
The European representative also stated that he was “convinced that with genuine political will it is possible for the protocol to work”. However, Sefcovic stressed that there was a “reluctance” by the UK to abide by the agreements and that “important talks” had been held since February this year. But the project London presented this week is “directly against that spirit”.
The relaunched process notes that the UK does not act on a contractual basis, particularly with regard to certification requests for the circulation of agri-food products. Two new actions point to non-compliance with the obligations stipulated by the sanitary and phytosanitary norms.
According to Sefcovic, the United Kingdom “does not carry out the necessary checks and does not guarantee adequate staffing and infrastructure at border checkpoints in Northern Ireland” and still “there is a lack of transmission of statistical trade data to the EU on Northern Ireland, as required by the Protocol”. .
Following the EU’s announcement, the London government said it was “disappointed” and that the European bloc’s proposals to adjust the protocol would only aim to “make the situation worse with more obstacles and more control” between Northern Ireland and the rest. .
The British government also said it would “carefully” review the case documents and “will respond formally when the time comes”.
source: Noticias
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