Brussels launches new legal action against London over Northern Ireland Protocol
The European Commission on Friday launched four new infringement procedures against the UK over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The EU's executive accuses London of failing to comply with the applicable customs requirements, supervision requirements and risk controls on the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
It also says the UK government has failed to implement EU rules on Value Added Tax (VAT) for e-commerce and failed to notify that they will implement EU rules related to indirect taxes, in particular on alcohol and alcoholic beverages.
In short, the UK is not providing the EU with export declarations Northern Ireland businesses are supposed to fill in when sending goods to Great Britain, including for controlled goods subject to prohibition and restrictions.
"This is of course very important to so that to ensure that the EU can comply with its own international obligations in relation to prohibitions and restrictions on the exports of goods to third countries. The UK, as of today, has not implemented these requirements," Commission spokesperson Ariana Podestà said.
The UK now has two months to reply to the letters from Brussels demanding "swift remedial actions to restore compliance with the terms of the Protocol".
If the reply is unsatisfactory, the Commission could then refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.
These four new infringement procedures add to the three already launched last month.
These were related to the UK's draft bill to unilaterally override parts of the international treaty, the continued lack of infrastructure and staffing to carry out customs checks in the UK, and London's failure to share trading data as required under the Protocol.
The British
Read more on euronews.com
