NI Protocol: UK given extra time to respond to EU

The UK has been given extra time to respond to legal action launched by the EU over plans to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Legislation to give UK ministers powers to override the post-Brexit trade arrangements is going through Parliament.

The treaty was agreed by both sides but the UK says it has disrupted trade and power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

But the EU says overriding parts of the deal would break international law.

In June, the EU began infringement proceedings against the UK, saying the contentious bill was "illegal".

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a special arrangement that keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, avoiding a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

The arrangement ensured free trade could continue across the Irish land border, which is a sensitive issue because of the history of conflict in Northern Ireland.

But the protocol brought in some new checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and has been criticised by unionist politicians.

However, the majority of politicians elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in last month's elections support the arrangements.

The European Commission said it would restart legal action - paused in March 2021 - over the UK's decision to delay checks on certain goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

It subsequently launched four additional legal actions over the protocol.

They relate to an alleged failure to provide the EU with data about exports from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, and implement agreed EU customs, VAT and alcohol excise rules.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the commission confirmed the deadline for the government to respond had been extended by one month.

They said it followed a request by the UK. The initial deadline was 15 August.

The EU has said while it remains open to further negotiations with the UK, it will not accept unilateral changes.

The UK's plans are laid out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which passed its final stages in the House of Commons last month but faces a potentially rough ride in the Lords in the autumn.

The UK government published plans for the bill earlier this month. At the centre of the proposal is the concept of green lanes and red lanes for trade.

This would mean:

London also wants any trade disputes resolved by "independent arbitration" and not by the European Court of Justice, and for Northern Ireland to benefit from the same tax breaks as elsewhere in the UK.