The European Commission is launching criminal proceedings against the United Kingdom for possible violations of existing Brexit agreements on trade with Northern Ireland. The Commission has announced on Wednesday† The British government on Monday presented a plan to unilaterally change agreements with the European Union: border controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK must be abolished. According to the Commission, this goes against the Brexit agreements.
Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations, which oversees relations between the UK and the EU after Brexit, pleaded for “calling the beast by its name”: “this is illegal.” According to international news agencies, the proceedings could ultimately lead to fines imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Brexit agreements stipulate that Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK that borders the EU, will continue to follow the trade rules of the European internal market. The proposal submitted by the British government earlier this week puts an end to that. Instead of border controls for trade, products under the proposal must be pre-sorted for domestic or foreign trade. Northern Ireland would also receive the same tax cut as the rest of the UK and the British court would have to deal with trade disputes from now on. That would sideline the European Court of Justice.