THE EU and the UK will continue “intensified talks” this week to try and find a solution to issues in the Northern Ireland Protocol, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman would not put a deadline on when talks would continue until but insisted the UK side was still keen to reach a “consensual solution”.
It comes days after the EU said there had to be “serious headway” made in negotiations over the next week.
However, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic added that there had been a “change in tone” from the UK in the latest round of negotiations.
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Sefcovic and Brexit Minister Lord Frost met on Friday, November 12 for the fourth time in a bid to resolve the issues with the protocol.
The UK Government appeared to soften its stance on using the protocol’s get-out clause Article 16 last week.
They stated that there was a “preference” to find a consensual way forward, but re-iterated that from the UK's perspective the conditions for triggering the mechanism had been met.
Article 16 is a fail-safe which either side can use if the protocol is leading to serious “economic, societal or environmental difficulties”, that are likely to persist.
Sefcovic is in charge of negotiations for the European Union
It can also be used unilaterally by either the UK or EU if the protocol leads to a “diversion of trade” but there is no specific guidance on how this should be interpreted, or what qualifies as a “serious” difficulty.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “There are significant gaps between our positions and as we set out in the July command paper, we believe the conditions for Article 16 have been met.
“But again, we are going to be continuing talks, intensified talks, between the two teams to try and find a consensual solution.”
He added: “I wouldn’t say seek to put a time limit on it. I think the most important thing is to not place a time limit on it which could hinder potential progress.”
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Talks between the UK and the EU bloc will resume in Brussels on Friday, November 19.
In October, the EU offered a series of alterations to the agreement, which is designed to maintain free-flowing trade on the island of Ireland without a hard border.
The agreement effectively keeps Northern Ireland within the EU single market, meaning that trade goods must be checked on arrival from mainland UK.
The EU has offered to cut out 80% of these checks, with the aim of helping businesses and the economy in Northern Ireland.
Lord Frost (left) and Sefcovic (right) will meet in Brussels on Friday to continue talks
But the UK Government is seeking further alterations to the agreement, including removing the role of judges in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as the arbitrators of disputes.
On the role of the ECJ, Sefcovic confirmed that “definitely nothing’s changed” in the EU’s position.
We previously told how Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the UK demands, particularly in relation to the ECJ, are “very hard to accept”.
Varadkar said in a press conference that he couldn’t see the EU handing control of the rules of the single market to another court either in the UK or elsewhere.
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