UK Foreign Minister Says Bill Revising Northern Ireland Protocol Will Not Harm EU

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union will be "no worse off" under the proposed UK bill that aims to revise the provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol reached as a part of the Brexit agreement on customs borders, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

Under the Brexit agreement that went into force in January 2021, there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but under the Protocol all goods and animal-based products coming from the rest of the British territories must be checked upon arrival to ensure their compatibility with EU sanitary regulations. The new bill stipulates the establishment of a "green channel" for goods transported from the UK to Northern Ireland, as well as the change in the tax rules stripping the European Court of its role as the sole arbiter of disputes.

"There simply is no reason, Nick, for the EU to take any action, this legislation does not make them any worse off at all," Truss said in an interview with UK broadcaster LBC on Monday.

The foreign secretary said that the bill was introduced "to protect the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and the political stability of Northern Ireland," adding that the UK government intends to ensure that "the people of Northern Ireland can access the same tax benefits as the people of Great Britain."

Truss added that the UK continues to provide the EU with information about the goods crossing the Irish Sea so that no one will be violating "the green channel and sending goods into the Republic of Ireland."

In May, the European Union threatened to retaliate with "all measures at its disposal" in the event of the UK trying to pass the bill and trampling down the Protocol.

The Northern Ireland Protocol has long been a stumbling block in the relations between the UK and the EU. In May, London warned the EU that if the bloc did not show the required flexibility to resolve the situation around the Protocol, then the UK government "would have no choice but to act."

The UK government has argued that the Protocol is not working, as it causes delays and interruptions to goods moving between the UK and Northern Ireland and irritates unionists, thus threatening the so-called Good Friday Agreement that in 1998 put an end to 30 years of the armed conflict between the two entities.