FirstFT: EU rejects British plan to rip up Brexit deal

FirstFT: EU rejects British plan to rip up Brexit deal

Brussels has insisted it will not renegotiate the EU's Brexit deal with the UK after London inflamed tensions by launching a bold push to overhaul trading rules for Northern Ireland.

The renewed conflict came as it emerged British prime minister Boris Johnson wanted to renegotiate the so-called Northern Ireland protocol agreed with Brussels in 2019, even though it has only been in force since the beginning of the year.

Lord David Frost, Johnson's Brexit minister, published a paper that proposed dismantling key parts of the protocol, which governs post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, including stripping the European Court of Justice of its role in policing it.

Most checks at Irish Sea ports on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would be replaced by a new system largely based on the honesty of traders, with spot checks behind the border.

Maros Sefcovic, European Commission vice-president in charge of relations with the UK, said Brussels "will not agree to a renegotiation of the protocol". Weeks or months of diplomatic wrangling lie ahead.

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