The European Union has taken legal action against the United Kingdom for breach of the Brexit Treaty

The European Union said on Monday it was taking legal action against the United Kingdom, arguing that It violates the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and violates international law.

In an official note, the European Commission announced that the first step is to send the official letter marking the start of the infringement procedure and the second formal request to the UK to set aside the decision unilaterally extend border controls in Ireland.

The bloc of 27 nations opposes the unilateral extension of a grace period by Great Britain beyond April 1 which applies to trade on the island of Ireland, where the EU and the UK share a land border and where a special trading system as part of the Brexit divorce deal.

The legal process could lead to Great Britain is brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities and faces trade sanctions.

The move marks a further deterioration in relations between the two parties since the end of the transition period on January 1. The disputes range from fights over vaccines to full diplomatic recognition of the EU in Britain and now even under the terms of the divorce deal.

Britain announced last week it was delaying the imposition of controls on some EU products give businesses more time to prepare for the new post-Brexit rules.

And on March 3, the UK decided to unilaterally extend a grace period until October for controls of goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK but has remained part of the EU’s single market for goods after Brexit to avoid a hard border that could reignite sectarian violence.

It means that products from Great Britain are subject to EU import regulations.

In September last year, the UK had already shaken the 27-nation bloc when it was considering legislation that would have given Boris Johnson’s government the power to override part of the linked Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to Northern Ireland.

The EU therefore considers the UK’s declaration of 3 March as proof that The UK has made two attempts to violate an international agreement.

The sensitivity of Northern Ireland’s status was underlined this year when EU threatened to ban shipments of coronavirus vaccine to Northern Ireland as part of the measures to strengthen the supply of the block. This would have drawn a hard border on the island of Ireland, exactly the stage to avoid the Brexit deal.

The Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, underlined that the protocol designed in the agreement for Ireland aims “Preserving peace and stability” on this island, protecting the Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998 to end the violence.

“Unilateral decisions and violations of international law by the United Kingdom undermine the objective [del protocolo sobre Irlanda] and undermine the trust between us“, full stop. The UK” has to implement it appropriately if we are to achieve our goals. That is why today we have taken legal action, “according to Sefcovic.

Grace periods cover areas such as supermarket supplies and parcel deliveries in Northern Ireland of Great Britain and means that the controls are not yet fully implemented.

The first of the grace periods was due to expire at the end of this month, but the UK has pledged to extend them until October, a move welcomed by businesses in Belfast.

Instead, the irritation in Brussels with the unilateral British decision taken European Parliament lawmakers will not yet set a date to discuss ratification of the deal on post-Brexit relations, which is currently applied on a provisional basis.

(With information from the AP and AFP)

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