BREXIT negotiator Lord Frost dodged questions on why the EU ambassador to the UK was initially denied diplomatic status.
The Cabinet minister was probed by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee this morning on the status of talks and the UK’s relationship with the European Union amid a row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
We previously told how Joao Vale de Almeida took up his post as Brussels’ first ambassador in London last year, but was initially denied formal recognition while trade negotiations were under way.
Now, the two sides have struck an agreement to allow Almeida diplomatic status, after the UK Government refused to grant the status as the EU was not a sovereign power.
READ MORE: Scots to greet top EU diplomat ‘snubbed’ by Tory ministers
The two sides reached agreement in May, but according to Frost they are still working through the final stages of the process.
Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat, a Tory MP, took the opportunity to probe Frost on why the accreditation was delayed and what the benefits were.
Frost said: “So I think this was always a little bit kind of over interpreted possibly in public debate.
“I think our wish was always to find a way of ensuring that the EU delegation in London was able to do its business in a normal diplomatic way, and we’ve now reached agreement on that as you say and it will be taken forward.
“We did have some discussions with the EU about this last year, so it was slightly surprising to us that it sort of blew up as an issue, but we were never seeking to squeeze out the delegation or treat them as a non diplomatic mission or anything like that, we just wanted to find the right basis and that’s what happened.”
Tugendhat asked what the differences are between what the EU requested for the diplomat, and what is being put in place, but Frost dodged answering fully.
He said: “I wouldn’t want to go into the details on that at this point while we’re still working through the final stages of accreditation and the process, but I think we are both confident that we have found the right balance of interest for us both to do our jobs effectively.”
It comes as Frost told MPs it was “hard to see” how the Northern Ireland Protocol could be sustainable in its current form.
READ MORE: EU ambassador to the UK granted diplomatic status
He was responding to a suggestion from outgoing DUP leader Edwin Poots that he has received a personal assurance from the UK Government that significant changes will be made to the Protocol.
He said: “I can’t comment on private conversations and accounts of them. But we haven’t made a secret of the fact that we find it hard to see how, as currently operated, important elements of the Protocol are sustainable.
“I don’t think that’s a new judgment. We have also said that we are considering all our options, and we are doing so.
“There is a real world timetable to things that needs to be taken into account when we do that.
“That’s where we are at the moment, we are actively considering the options to deal with a situation that is hard to see as sustainable.”
Frost also claimed that there had been a “chilling effect” on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
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