The European Commission announced on Friday 22 July the opening of four new infringement procedures against the United Kingdom over its failure to comply with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Having launched three procedures on 15 June on the same subject (see EUROPE 12972/3), in this case regarding agri-food products and the lack of statistics transferred to the EU, the Commission believes that London is still not committed to finding solutions.
It also wants to react to the progress of the bill challenging the protocol (see EUROPE 12970/16) in the British Parliament, after a new formal stage of adoption on 21 July in the House of Commons.
“The Commission refrained from launching certain infringement procedures for more than a year in order to create space to seek common solutions with the UK. However, the UK’s refusal to engage in a serious discussion since last February and the continued passage of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill through the UK Parliament directly contradicts this spirit”, it says in a statement.
The first procedure concerns the failure to comply with customs requirements, surveillance requirements and risk controls applicable to the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. “This significantly increases the risk of smuggling through Northern Ireland” by opening up the possibility for traders to circumvent EU rules on bans and restrictions on the export of goods to third countries.
The second procedure is for failing to notify the transportation of EU legislation establishing general EU rules on excise duties, applicable from 13 February 2023. Member States and the UK - in the case of Northern Ireland - were required to transpose this directive and communicate these measures by 31 December 2021. “Failing to transpose these rules poses a fiscal risk to the EU in relation to the movement of excisable goods to/from Northern Ireland”.
Thirdly, London has not notified the transposition of EU rules on excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, which facilitate access to lower excise rates for small producers and artisans, among other provisions. This again presents a fiscal risk for the EU and a risk of distorting competition in the supply of these goods within the single market.
Finally, the fourth infringement concerns the non-implementation of EU value added tax (VAT) rules for e-commerce, namely the Import One-Stop-Shop system (IOSS). IOSS is a special scheme that Northern Ireland businesses have been able to use from 1 July 2021 on the distance selling of imported goods.
It allows suppliers and e-interfaces, for goods imported from the EU up to €150, to declare and pay VAT through a single Member State instead of having to register in each Member State with which they trade. This also represents a fiscal risk for the EU, the Commission argues. The UK government has two months to respond.
Liz Truss favourite to replace Boris Johnson
Meanwhile, the race to succeed Boris Johnson continues in London, with the latest round of selections pitting current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss against former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, though Ms Truss is the favourite. Tory members will make their choice known on 5 September. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)