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Bid to scrap NI Protocol is illegal and damages our trust, EU chief warns

Evening Standard

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June 15, 2022

EUROPEAN chiefs today stepped up the war of words with the UK over Brexit, branding Britain's move to rewrite the Northern Ireland Protocol as "illegal".

- David Bond

Bid to scrap NI Protocol is illegal and damages our trust, EU chief warns

Announcing the EU's official response to the UK's new Northern Ireland Bill, published on Monday, the European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said the legislation had damaged trust and "cast a shadow" over UK-EU co-operation.

"Let there be no doubt; there is no legal or political justification for unilaterally changing an international agreement," Mr Sefcovic told a press conference in Brussels this morning.

"Let's call a spade a spade - this is illegal." Mr Sefcovic said the move by Boris Johnson's government to change the Protocol had left Brussels with no choice but to launch fresh legal action.

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