BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union has promised legal action after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for food imports to Northern Ireland, a move that Brussels says violates the terms of the EU’s separation agreement in London.
The provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol set out EU action. Britain signed them when they formally left the EU in January 2020. Britain says it has not violated the protocol.
ON THE WAY TO THE EUROPEAN COURT
The European Commission, which coordinates Brexit and trade policies for the EU of 27 countries, initially plans to launch an “infringement procedure” against Britain.
The steps involve a formal notice letter in which an answer is usually requested within two months, followed by a ‘reasoned opinion’ that requires corrective action, also usually within two months. The next step would be to take Britain to the European Court of Justice.
The Commission sent such a letter in October last year after Britain acknowledged that its internal market bill would violate international law by violating parts of the withdrawal agreement. This gave London one month to respond. Britain ended the dispute by abandoning certain controversial clauses in December, two weeks before the two parties reached a trade agreement.
PATH TO SANCTIONS
The next route for the EU would be through the Withdrawal Agreement of the Withdrawal Agreement.
This allows Britain and the EU to consult on the matter for up to three months, and then both sides can request that an arbitration panel of five people intervene. The panel has twelve months to deliver judgment, or six months for urgent matters.
If one of the parties does not comply with a decision, the other side may suspend parts of any other EU-UK agreement, such as the trade agreement reached in December. This could mean that the European Union charges tariffs on certain British imports.
ROAD RATES AND QUOTAS
The European Parliament has postponed the postponement of a date for the vote to ratify the EU-UK trade agreement in protest of the British move.
The transaction is provisionally implemented until the end of April.
If EU lawmakers do not vote by then and the deadline is not extended, the trade agreement will cease to apply, leaving Britain and the European Union to trade tariffs and quotas on WTO terms.
Bernd Lange, the German chairman of parliament’s trade committee, told Reuters lawmakers prefer de-escalation but are “ready to use this hard weapon”.
Reported by Philip Blenkinsop; Edited by John Chalmers and Hugh Lawson