Gove and Šefčovič reiterate commitment to NI protocol after crisis talks

Michael Gove and the European fee’s vice-president have reiterated their “full commitment” to the Northern Ireland protocol following crisis talks in London.

A joint assertion stated Gove and Maroš Šefčovič had a “frank but constructive discussion” on Thursday night, through which they agreed to “spare no effort” in implementing options.

They pledged “further joint engagement by the UK and the EU with business groups and civic society in Northern Ireland”. The two politicians agreed to convene the joint committee, which oversees implementation of the Brexit withdrawal settlement, no later than 24 February to present “the necessary political steer”.

The talks come amid mounting tensions over post-Brexit issues in Northern Ireland, and anger in EU capitals at UK calls for for a rethink. In a letter to Gove late on Wednesday, Šefčovič dominated out main modifications to the Brexit deal’s Northern Ireland protocol, saying the EU was not ready even to think about any “flexibilities” till the UK fulfilled the obligations to which it had already signed up.

Šefčovič detailed a collection of what he known as “shortcomings” within the UK’s observance of border preparations in Northern Ireland beneath the protocol, which requires items shipped from Britain to the area to meet strict EU customs guidelines.

Measures to which Britain signed up as a part of the settlement reached final December “urgently need to be fully and faithfully implemented” as a “prerequisite to assess whether any facilitation, as requested, is necessary or justified,” he wrote.

The letter displays anger in some EU capitals at what they see as British makes an attempt to exploit controversy over the fee’s transient transfer to set off article 16 of the protocol final month in an effort to stop vaccine exports stepping into the UK.

The fee president, Ursula von der Leyen, has apologised for the transfer, saying it was a mistake she deeply regretted, and the fee is engaged on mechanisms to guarantee future EU laws is double-checked for its influence on Northern Ireland.

But there may be resentment amongst a number of member states at Britain’s subsequent try to capitalise on the fee’s blunder by demanding a wholesale rethink of the protocol, which was designed to stop a tough border on the island of Ireland.

Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, known as for the EU and UK to “dial down the rhetoric”. Martin stated there have been “elements the British government could sort out, but likewise on the European side I would say some member states need to cool it as well”.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, additionally stated on Thursday that each events should take heed to their duties. “The difficulties on the island of Ireland are caused by Brexit, not by the protocol,” Barnier stated. “The protocol is the solution.”

Last week Boris Johnson accused the EU of showing to “cast doubt” on the Good Friday settlement by triggering article 16, whereas Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, stated the episode had “changed the political situation” and demanded elementary modifications to the protocol.

EU diplomats have objected significantly strongly to the tone of a letter from Gove, who co-chairs the EU-UK joint committee on Northern Ireland with Šefčovič, to his European counterpart on 2 February, with one describing its tone as “extraordinary”.

With freight arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain going through critical delays and disruption, Gove demanded a two-year postponement of the introduction of full checks on grocery store meals, medicines and parcels till 2023.

He additionally known as for an “urgent reset” of the opposite elements of the protocol, together with a everlasting discount of bureaucratic boundaries hindering the motion of pets, vegetation and meals merchandise to the area, by “political, not technical” options.

“It’s clear the commission made a serious mistake on article 16,” one other EU diplomat stated. “But the British response is transparent and infuriating. It is using that mistake as an excuse to demand we tear up parts of an agreement it signed up to.”

David Frost, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, advised the Lords EU committee on Tuesday {that a} decision to the more and more strained relations required a “different spirit” from the EU, which he stated was struggling to get used to a “genuinely independent actor in its neighbourhood”.

But Šefčovič stated in his reply to Gove that “blanket derogations” from EU guidelines on meat merchandise and parcels “cannot be agreed beyond what the protocol foresees already”, whereas extra flexibility on pets and vegetation would entail “the UK committing to align with the relevant EU rules”.

The EU vice-president additionally stated Britain was not complying with the phrases of the protocol in a lot of areas. Border management posts at ports in Northern Ireland weren’t but absolutely operational, he stated, whereas official controls have been “currently not being performed in compliance with the withdrawal agreement protocol and EU rules”.

There have been “very few identity checks” on items and “a very limited number of physical checks other than on live animals, fish and plants”, he stated, whereas “non-compliant consignments” have been being accepted even when destined for Ireland.

Packages weren’t being monitored as required, items have been getting into Northern Ireland “without being declared or without valid certificates”, and the UK had “not fulfilled its obligation” to permit the EU real-time entry to key customs IT programs.

• This article was amended on 11 February 2021 to make clear that the fee moved to set off article 16 however backtracked earlier than it was due to come into drive.