EU urges UK to "implement what we agreed", as UK wants "pragmatic" EU

(Alliance News) - European leaders on Saturday told UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stick to ...

Alliance News 12 June, 2021 | 10:17AM
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(Alliance News) - European leaders on Saturday told UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stick to his commitments on Brexit, presenting a united front in a row with London over new trading rules, while a UK government minister told EU chiefs to not be "bloody-minded".

The heads of the European Commission and European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, said there was "complete EU unity" on the need to "implement what we agreed on", AFP reported.

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged the EU to take a more "pragmatic" approach to the Northern Ireland issue.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was holding talks with the EU's key players on Saturday as the dispute threatened to overshadow his hosting of the G7 summit.

Johnson was meeting with Von der Leyen and Michel, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in the margins of the gathering in Cornwall.

The main summit agenda will see the leaders of the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy commit to a new plan aimed at preventing a repeat of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Downing Street has indicated the UK would be prepared to unilaterally delay the full implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol to prevent a ban on chilled meats crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain.

Restrictions on British-produced chilled meats entering Northern Ireland are due to come into force at the end of the month.

Delaying the checks without Brussels' agreement risks triggering a "sausage war" trade dispute, with the EU threatening to respond to any breach of the deal signed by the prime minister.

Johnson has suggested the EU is taking an "excessively burdensome" approach to post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Raab told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "They can be more pragmatic about the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol in a way that is win-win or they can be bloody-minded and purist about it, in which case I am afraid we will not allow the integrity of the UK to be threatened."

During the meeting in Cornwall, Macron reportedly told the prime minister the UK-France relationship could only be "reset" if Johnson stood by the Brexit deal, according to French sources.

The protocol effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the European single market to avoid a hard border with Ireland, meaning a trade barrier in the Irish Sea for goods crossing from Great Britain.

The prime minister's official spokesman told reporters in Cornwall the immediate priority was to find "radical and urgent solutions within the protocol".

But "we keep all options on the table", he added, indicating the possibility of a unilateral extension of a grace period to allow sausages to continue to be shipped across the Irish Sea.

Downing Street played down expectations of Johnson finding a resolution to the impasse at the Carbis Bay summit.

The spokesman suggested the meeting was "not the forum in which he is necessarily seeking to come up with an immediate solution".

At a press conference ahead of the G7 summit, von der Leyen insisted the protocol is the "only solution" to prevent a hard border with the Republic and must be implemented in full.

Macron also warned the Brexit deal cannot be renegotiated.

By David Hughes, PA Political Editor

source: PA

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