LONDON – Britain demanded on Wednesday that the European Union agree to extend and expand waivers on the movement of certain goods from Britain into Northern Ireland calling for urgent political solutions to problems implementing post-Brexit rules.
The arrangements that currently apply to supermarkets and their suppliers must be extended until at least 1 January 2023
Michael Gove, UK's Cabinet Office minister
“What is now required is political, not technical, solutions,” Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, in charge of negotiating the rules around Northern Ireland, said in a letter to his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic.
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“The arrangements that currently apply to supermarkets and their suppliers must be extended until at least 1 January 2023. The eligibility for these arrangements must also be adapted so that all relevant local businesses and services are able to be included as authorised traders.”
The grace period is due to expire at the end of March.
Gove also further criticised the EU’s decision last week to briefly invoke emergency powers and announce it would check vaccines crossing the land border into Northern Ireland in his letter. The move was quickly withdrawn after an outcry.
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“I had expected a strong response, but the reaction was even more negative than I had anticipated. Across all political parties, civic society and business organisations in Northern Ireland there was a sense of shock and anger,” he wrote.
Having set out his issues with the current arrangements, which were agreed in December as part of a wider exit treaty, Gove said: “If it is not possible to agree a way forward in the way we propose, then the UK will consider using all instruments at its disposal.”
