Talks on the future of the Northern Ireland protocol between the EU and the UK are reaching a head. Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, and Maros Sefcovic of the European Commission held discussions in Brussels yesterday, but the progress made was by all accounts limited. The main aim of the protocol was to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, but this came at the expense of raising serious trade barriers between the province and the mainland. There has been disruption to supply chains and clear evidence that trade has been diverted from its pre-Brexit patterns. EU proposals to address some of these issues go nowhere near far enough, despite claims from Brussels that it is being generous and open-minded.
Nov 2021. The Northern Ireland Protocol Part 2
