EU vice president says UK's Northern Ireland protocol plan ‘politically driven’

European Commission vice president declined to rule out trade war between UK and EU

EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic gives a press conference at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 15, 2022. AFP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans to scrap parts of Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal are “politically driven” and “very damaging” to UK-European Union relations, the European Commission vice president has said.

Maros Sefcovic said the EU was not “here for political point scoring” after the bloc launched fresh legal action against the UK in retaliation for the prime minister’s new Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which will effectively rip up key parts of the deal he signed with the EU in 2019.

“I cannot resist the impression that the tabling of the bill is politically driven, but it’s not our role to comment on internal politics in the UK and therefore our doors for the negotiations will always be open,” Mr Sefcovic told Sky News.

“We are here for the results, not political point scoring … We are in a fixing business, but I am afraid to say what was tabled on Monday is very much nixing.

“It is very much ripping up the protocol and I don’t think that is good for anyone.”

In the deal, both sides agreed to put checks on goods, plant and animal products crossing from Britain to Northern Ireland to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The UK has insisted that its unilateral approach is the only option left to resolve the issues “baked into” the protocol if the EU maintains its refusal to fundamentally rewrite the terms of the deal.

The European Commission vice president said Brexit difficulties were bleeding into other areas of co-operation.

EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic gives a press conference at the EU headquarters in Brussels. AFP

While he praised “remarkable” EU-UK co-operation on Ukraine and other global challenges, he said it was a “pity that we have to spend so much time” discussing Brexit issues “when we need to build and consolidate this western unity”.

“What is indeed very damaging for our relationship is this constant breaching of the international law, and that’s something what we’ve been not used to from the UK,” Mr Sefcovic added.

The dispute could ultimately lead to a trade war, with tariffs or even the suspension of the entire Brexit deal between the UK and EU.

Mr Sefcovic declined to rule out a trade war, saying: “We have to keep all options on the table.”

But he emphasised the EU’s preference to find a negotiated resolution to the problems caused by the protocol, lamenting the “radio silence from London since February”.

“We would very much appreciate … more of a political will to work on these issues jointly,” he added.

Asked if the issue can be resolved, he said he would “hope for the best, be prepared for the worst”.