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Lorries in the port of the Northern Irish town of Larne
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Charles McQuillan / Getty Images
The EU is preparing for the UK government to escalate the dispute over the implementation of the Brexit agreements in Northern Ireland.
In this case, the member states agreed on "robust" measures against Great Britain.
This was confirmed by EU diplomats in Brussels on Wednesday.
The UK and the European Commission have been negotiating trade agreements for Northern Ireland for a month that include controls on imports of goods from the UK.
The controls are necessary to avoid the introduction of a hard border between the British province and the EU member Ireland.
The British government wants to move away from the commitment it has made (read more here).
The Vice President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, informed the EU ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday and, according to EU diplomats, informed them that the talks with Great Britain were not going well but should be continued.
Brexit minister calls on the EU to be prudent
The British minister responsible, David Frost, threatened again to partially suspend the Northern Ireland Protocol. At the same time he called on the EU to be prudent. "I politely recommend that our European friends stay calm and not lose their temper," continued Frost. There is still a "real opportunity" to avoid confrontation and to achieve a new equilibrium. At the moment, however, Brussels seems to be taking the position that triggering Article 16 by London would result in "disproportionate countermeasures," said Frost.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol as part of the Brexit agreement in 2020.
Since then, however, he has argued that it was agreed in a hurry and that improvements are needed.
The EU and also the federal government reject renegotiation.
The EU Commission had offered, however, that the EU slimmed down the customs regulations and controls of freight traffic between the British heartland and Northern Ireland.
as / Reuters / dpa