The European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has warned that UK must stick to the terms of the Brexit deal it agreed last year.
This is coming after reports that the British government has plans for a new legislation that would undermine elements of it.
The Financial Times, quoting three people familiar with the plans, reported that sections of a market bill slated for publication Wednesday, are expected to “eliminate the legal force of parts of the withdrawal agreement” in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs.
An individual with knowledge of the plans said this “could undermine the agreement on Northern Ireland that Boris Johnson signed last October to avoid a return to a hard border in the region.”
Meanwhile in a statement on Twitter, the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said such a move as described by the report “would be a very unwise way to proceed” on Brexit.
UK government however did not dispute the report, although George Eustice, the UK’s environment secretary, in an interview on Sky News suggested that the story may have “exaggerated things.”
He added that the “Northern Ireland protocol is agreed” and “part of the withdrawal agreement.”
