London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UK's N Ireland demands risk 'breakdown' in EU relations, Ireland warns

Both Brussels and London have blamed each other for the lack of progress and warned they're running out of patience.

Demands from London over the Northern Irish Protocol risks a "further breakdown in relations" with the European Union, Ireland's Foreign Minister warned on Sunday.

Simon Coveney wrote on Twitter that the UK's demand for the European Court of Justice (CJEU) to be stripped of its oversight of the Protocol would represent a new "barrier to progress that they know EU can't move on."

"Does the UK government want an agreed way forward or a further breakdown in relations," he added.

The UK's Brexit Minister, Lord David Frost, also took to Twitter, writing that "the issue governance and the CJEU is not new."

"We set out our concerns three months ago in our July 21 Command Paper. The problem is that too few people seem to have listened," he added.


Brussels is expected to set out new proposals to break the deadlock over the trade arrangements for Northern Ireland this week.

Frost said the UK "will look at them seriously and positively whatever they say. We will discuss them seriously and intensively."

"But there needs to be significant change to the current situation if there is to be a positive outcome," he also said.

London has been calling for a complete overhaul of the agreement which currently sees Northern Ireland remain in the EU's Single Market with checks to be carried out on certain goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

This effectively creates a de-facto border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Protocol, negotiated alongside the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, was seen as the best way to preserve peace by avoiding the creation of a physical border between Northern Ireland and its southern neighbour, the Republic of Ireland, and EU member state. It was backed by parliamentarians in London and Brussels.

Brussels, meanwhile, has said it is open to changes, as long as they are within the framework of the Protocol and suspended its litigation process against the UK over its decision to unilaterally implement grace periods on checks as a sign of goodwill.

Both sides have put the blames on the lack of progress on each other, accusing the other of being inflexible and warning they're running out of patience.

In remarks released ahead of a speech in Lisbon on Saturday, Frost argued that "the role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland and the consequent inability of the U.K. Government to implement the very sensitive arrangements in the protocol in a reasonable way has created a deep imbalance in the way the protocol operates.

Euronews reported on Friday that Brussels is likely to offer unhindered access for products linked to British “national identity,’’ such as Cumberland sausages. The proposal is an attempt to avoid a so-called sausage war over chilled meats crossing the Irish Sea.

Frost’s office on Saturday suggested EU concessions would have to “go far beyond the sausages.”

The British negotiator reiterated last week at the Conservative Party conference that London could trigger Article 16 which allows either side to unilaterally walk away from the deal if a solution is not found soon.

European Commission Vice-President and co-chair of the EU-UK Joint Committee & Partnership Council Maros Sefcovic, told reporters last month that the bloc aims to resolve any outstanding issue before the end of the year.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×