EU takes steps against UK for violating Brexit agreements | Abroad

The government in London wants to get rid of the so-called Protocol for Northern Ireland, which was to ensure that after Brexit there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom, and the EU member state of Ireland. It could jeopardize the expensive peace between pro-Irish Catholics and pro-British Protestants on the island. But the protocol complicates trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and forces Northern Irishmen to continue to follow Brussels rules, London laments.

The EU is resuming a so-called infringement procedure against the British that it had shut down last year and is taking the next step. The European Commission wanted to make an amicable solution possible with the break last year, but London itself has crossed the line, according to Brussels. If the British government does not meet the EU within two months, it can go to the European Court of Justice. In addition, there are two new procedures.

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