European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said, on Monday 6 February, that “progress” had been made with the UK government on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, but that “difficulties” remain and that the main thing for the EU is to “re-establish trust”.
The Vice President briefed the EU’s European Affairs Ministers on the progress of the talks as several media outlets have reported significant progress.
He discussed the trade in goods between Britain and Northern Ireland and the EU’s computer systems for checking compliance with EU rules.
“There is recognition that Northern Ireland has a place in the UK internal market, of course, but we need to ensure that when Northern Ireland has access to the European single market, we have reliable information about the trade flows” that are generated.
Asked whether the Commission would have accepted the UK’s proposal for green customs lanes for goods destined only for Northern Ireland and red lanes for products destined for Ireland or other EU countries, the Vice-President said he was open to the idea of “express lanes”, but with sufficient safeguards.
“The more and stronger safeguards we can get, the more flexibility we can explore”, he commented, adding that the discussions are about the kind of information the EU needs to ensure full compliance. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)