European authorities accuse London of violating essential parts of the agreement
The European Commission announced on Friday that it has opened a fourth infringement procedure against the United Kingdom for failing to apply “fundamental” parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. “Despite requests from the European Parliament, the EU27 and the European Commission, the UK government has not implemented the agreement,” the statement said. In view of this situation, Brussels has sent a formal communication by letter to London, which will have two months to reply before moving on to the next stage of the process.
Relations between the European Union and the island are not going well. The community bloc has halted proceedings against the United Kingdom for a year “as a show of good faith” in the context of the Brexit negotiations. British authorities responded with a law to unilaterally amend the Northern Ireland Protocol, something Brussels considers “illegal”.
This new procedure is based on the “lack of supervision and requirements” in the movement of goods from the region to the United Kingdom. The European Commission is making this lack of control “facilitate smuggling” through Northern Ireland, allowing third countries to circumvent European trade rules. In addition, he states that the British authorities do not provide the EU with information about the movement of goods, which makes any form of supervision practically impossible.
The UK authorities have also not notified the transposition of the European excise duty rules, which will come into effect from 13 February 2023. London had to inform Brussels of the measures it would take before the end of last year, “which it has not done.” .
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.