European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič has called on the UK government to “tone down the rhetoric” on Northern Ireland and the deal that Boris Johnson’s government signed in 2019 with the EU, and to find solutions “within that framework”.
This alert, reported by Politico, comes as the UK government may again say it wants to challenge the basis of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, including the obligations to check goods also destined for the single market, believing that the EU is not doing enough to reach an agreement.
The victory of the pro-reunification Sinn Fein party in Northern Ireland’s Stormont Assembly in the local elections held on 5 May has complicated matters for Boris Johnson’s government, with the DUP threatening to boycott a new executive if it does not get its way on the consequences of Brexit for the province.
On Sunday 8 May, UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said that Northern Ireland’s protocol controls were to be removed, to allow for political stability in the assembly.
Declining to say whether a concrete plan will be presented in the Queen’s Speech on 10 May, Dominic Raab nevertheless told Sky News that the government would take “all necessary steps” to resolve the problems with the protocol. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)