UK – EU
(BRUSSELS) – The European Commission launched four new infringement procedures against the United Kingdom Friday for not complying with significant parts of the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland.
The UK now has two months to reply to the letters, after which the Commission stands ready to take further measures.
Despite repeated calls by the European Parliament, the 27 EU Member States and the European Commission to implement the Protocol, the Commission says the UK government has failed to do so.
While it refrained from launching certain infringement procedures for over a year to create – ‘in a spirit of constructive cooperation’ – the space to look for joint solutions with the UK. the UK’s unwillingness to engage in meaningful discussion since last February and the continued passage of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill through the UK Parliament go directly against this spirit, says the EU executive. The aim of the infringement procedures is to secure compliance with the Protocol in a number of key areas.
This compliance, it says, is essential for Northern Ireland to continue to benefit from its privileged access to the European Single Market, and is necessary to protect the health, security and safety of EU citizens as well as the integrity of the Single Market. The decision marks the beginning of formal infringement procedures, as set out in Article 12(4) of the Protocol, in conjunction with Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The letters sent to the UK request its authorities to take swift remedial actions to restore compliance with the terms of the Protocol.
Commission launches four new infringement procedures against the UK - background guide
Position papers on possible solutions Customs and Sanitary and phytosanitary issues
June 2022 infringement procedures
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