Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Shamkhani to Al Mayadeen: There is no mention of lifting sanctions in the latest US proposal, even though this issue is fundamental for Iran
Ali Shamkhani, political advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, to Al Mayadeen: After receiving the American proposal, we are now preparing our new proposal
Shamkhani to Al Mayadeen: Iran will never give up its inherent rights
Iranian Defense Minister to Al Mayadeen: Israeli threats to Iran are just pointless nonsense
Iranian Defense Minister to Al Mayadeen: Those who actually possess the power and ability to threaten Iran do not speak as such; they are simply incapable of doing so
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh to Al Mayadeen: Iran possesses enough power to render 'Israel' incapable of threatening it
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem after meeting with Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi emphasized the importance of Iran’s positive role in the region and its support for the Palestinian Resistance and its people
Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi after meeting with Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem: Iran is keen to assist Lebanon and stand by its side economically and politically, on the basis of mutual respect
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, during which they discussed regional developments
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza: The death toll from the Israeli massacre targeting a tent sheltering displaced persons inside a school west of Khan Younis has risen to 14

EU threatens legal action over UK's Northern Ireland trade bill

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 13 Jun 2022 22:12
4 Min Read

UK's government proposed on Monday new legislation that would change post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland.

  • x
  • View of the border crossing between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in Newry, Northern Ireland, Britain, October 1, 2019  (REUTERS/Lorraine O'Sullivan)
    View of the border crossing between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in Newry, Northern Ireland, Britain, October 1, 2019 (REUTERS/Lorraine O'Sullivan)

The European Union threatened legal action against the United Kingdom on Monday after the latter's government proposed legislation that suggests a unilateral overhaul to the post-Brexit trade deal it signed for Northern Ireland.      

European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic stated to reporters in Brussels that "It is with significant concern that we take note of today's decision by the UK Government to table legislation," adding that "Unilateral action is damaging to mutual trust. The Commission will now assess the UK draft legislation."    

Sefcovic handles the EU's fraught ties with the UK government.

The Europeans would not renegotiate the divorce deal and its special protocol for trade in Northern Ireland, he said, and this "will simply bring further legal uncertainty for the people and businesses in Northern Ireland."      

Considering the breach of the deal, Sefcovic said that Brussels would consider reopening a suspended "infringement procedure" against the UK, in addition to opening fresh cases to "protect the EU single market from risks that the violation of the protocol creates for the EU businesses and for the health and safety of EU citizens", he added.      

The protocol requires checks on goods coming to Northern Ireland from England, Wales, and Scotland, in order to track those that could possibly be going to the EU via Ireland.      

This creates a customs border down the Irish Sea, keeping Northern Ireland in the customs orbit of the EU to avoid a politically sensitive hard border with Ireland.   

Sinn Fein: UK set to break int'l law with new N. Ireland trade laws

Related News

EU takes legal action against UK for breaching N.Ireland agreement

EU Refuses to Renegotiate Post-Brexit Trading with UK

Britain will be breaking international law by passing legislation that will unilaterally change the protocol of North Ireland that rules trade post-Brexit, according to Mary Lou McDonald, the president of Ireland's Sinn Fein party.

McDonald said there were mechanisms to improve applying the protocol involving trade between Ireland and Belgium. 

"There is a willingness here, there is a willingness to engage by the European Commission, but the British government has refused to engage," she told Sky News.

"It has not been constructive, it has sought a destructive path, and is now proposing to introduce legislation that will undoubtedly breach international law."

PM Johnson using N. Ireland against EU: Sinn Fein leader

UK Prime Minister is playing games with Ireland and using it as a pawn in the country's ongoing trade battle with the European Union following the Brexit deal, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said last month. 

McDonald accused the premier of being in "cahoots" with the pro-London party stopping an executive and assembly sitting.

The Stormont by-laws stipulate that a new administration only be formed without the largest unionist party taking part.

"He has connived with the DUP to use Ireland, the north of Ireland, to use unionism in Ireland as a pawn in a wider game that is being played out with the European Union," McDonald said in reference to Johnson.

She went on to call his tactic and approach "shameful" and "absolutely not acceptable."

"It is very clear that the Tory government in London is in cahoots with the DUP to stall and to hold back progress, to frustrate the will of the people as expressed in the election, and that, to anybody who calls themselves a democrat, is clearly unacceptable and clearly shameful. And that case will be made to Boris Johnson," she stressed.

Following the latest election, the DUP became Northern Ireland's second-largest party, losing the seat it had kept since the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921.


 

  • European Union
  • EU
  • United Kingdom
  • UK
  • Brexit
  • Northern Ireland
  • Maros Sefcovic

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, center, lays a wreath at the tomb of martyred Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran's Araghchi visits Lebanon, honors martyr Sayyed Nasrallah

Israeli occupation forces inspect the site where the Israeli occupation forces said a projectile fired by Ansar Allah landed in the area of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine on Sunday, May 4, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Yemen ready to strike 'Israel' around the clock, says defense minister

In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian steps out from his plane as he arrives at Muscat, Oman, on May 27, 2025. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
MENA

Pezeshkian: No talks under pressure or bullying

In this Thursday, April 21, 2016 photo, cattle graze by an Israeli military APC in the occupied Golan Heights, Syria (AP)
Politics

Pastoral settlement, new weapon for displacement in West Bank

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS