The European Commission on Friday opened four new infringement procedures against the United Kingdom for non-compliance with “significant parts” of the Northern Ireland Protocol, deploring London’s “unwillingness” to seek a joint solution.
Despite repeated calls from the European Parliament, the 27 Member States of the European Union and the European Commission to implement the Protocol, the UK government has not done so”, regrets the community executive, noting that, “in a spirit of constructive cooperation”refrained from launching these procedures “for more than a year to create the necessary space for the search for joint solutions” with London.
However, Brussels points out, “The UK’s unwillingness to start a meaningful discussion since last February” and the approval, by the British parliament, of a bill that annuls parts of the Brexit Agreement (British exit from the EU) on Northern Ireland, “go directly against this spirit” of cooperation
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The Commission has therefore now decided to go ahead with four new infringement procedureswhich are added to those already released on June 15.
The purpose of these infringement procedures is to ensure compliance with the Protocol in several key areas. This compliance 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 and safety of EU citizens, as well as the integrity of the Single Market. .European.
Brussels points out that the infringement procedure initiated this Friday refers to the breach of various aspects of the Protocol, concluded in 2019, and that, in practice, leaves Northern Ireland within the EU’s single market for goods, leaving the territory subject to European standards and laws, and involves additional checks and documentation on goods moving between the UK and the province.
A process refers to “failure to comply with applicable customs requirements, supervisory requirements and risk controls in the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain”while another with the lack of notification of the transposition of the community regulations establishing general rules on excise duties.
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A third is related to lack of notification of the transposition of the EU rules on excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beveragesand a room with non-compliance with EU value added tax (VAT) rules for e-commerce.
In all these cases, London now has two months to respond, after which the European Commission may decide to take further action.
On June 15, the community executive had already initiated an infringement procedure against the United Kingdom for violating international law with the amendments to the Protocol on Northern Ireland without “any legal or political justification” and “extremely harmful”.
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This procedure was accompanied by two others for non-compliance with EU sanitary and phytosanitary regulationsthat are not being applied in respect of the necessary controls, and also due to the fact that London does not provide trade statistics for Northern Ireland, as required by the Protocol.
Source: Observadora
