THE EU could take legal action against the UK Government as soon as Wednesday over the Tories' plans to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol.
According to RTÉ News, the EU is readying a statement that will reaffirm its commitment to not renegotiate the protocol, while also implying that they could retaliate with trade measures.
This comes in the run up to the publication of the UK Government’s Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which is expected to be made public this evening.
The European Commission could take the decision to unfreeze infringement proceedings, which were suspended last summer, in its weekly meeting on Wednesday, according to diplomats.
This decision could be made in tandem with further legal action that could be announced later this week.
The European Commission took action against the UK in March last year for extending grace periods that covered the use of export health certificates for shipments of agrifood goods from Britain to Northern Ireland.
That move was then suspended last summer to facilitate talks between with the UK on the easing of burdens surrounding the protocol.
According to a draft of a statement to be made by the commission today, the EU will “consider” making “new” infringement proceedings, along with unfreezing existing legal measures this week.
The EU will also make it clear that it will “not renegotiate the protocol".
According to sources, the EU will instead try to tempt the UK with the unfreezing of legal action which would happen alongside the publication of a "model for the flexible implementation of the protocol based on durable solutions".
This would flesh out the detail of how the EU intends to make the protocol more manageable, based on its proposals published last October.
The statement will say this will be in accordance with the EU's "strong and long standing commitment to businesses and people in Northern Ireland".
There is also an implied threat of trade measures against the UK within the draft statement.
It says: "[The] Commission recalls that the conclusion of the Withdrawal Agreement was a precondition for the negotiation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
"Today's decision by the UK Government undermines the trust that is necessary for bilateral EU-UK cooperation within the framework of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement."
RTÉ sources claim that the final version of the statement will depend on the exact contents of the bill, and the extent to which it will affect the protocol.
