Britain rejects EU's concessions on N Ireland, seeks renegotiation

The European Union has set out its suggestions for how to ease tensions in the increasingly entrenched trade dispute with the British government over the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland - but its proposals have been rejected by Westminster, which wants to see the provisions of the Brexit agreement relating to the issue totally renegotiated.

Northern Ireland, despite being part of the United Kingdom, has stayed in the EU's single market post-Brexit, meaning that goods travelling there from the British mainland will be subject to customs checks, a situation that is governed by part of the agreement known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But just seven months after agreeing the deal and declaring it a great success, the authorities in London now say it is completely unworkable and needs total renegotiation, a demand that the EU has repeatedly rejected.

The additional bureaucracy brought about by the protocol has hit food supply chains, particularly those relating to meat products, and also some medical supplies.

The protocol is particularly important because of the desire to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border between Northern Ireland and EU member state the Republic of Ireland, which some observers are concerned would go against the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which brought an end to decades of bloody civil conflict in Northern Ireland, which also led to violence on the British mainland and in the Republic.

"These solutions have an unambiguous common denominator; they were brought about with the core purpose of benefitting the people in Northern Ireland," said European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic.

"Ultimately, our work is about ensuring that the hard-earned gains of the Good Friday Agreement, peace and stability in Northern Ireland, are protected, while avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland and maintaining the integrity of the EU single market."

Having previously accused the EU of being "rigid" and "inflexible" over the matter, the latest proposals have been met with a similar lack of enthusiasm from the British government.

A Downing Street spokesperson told the Guardian newspaper that what was on offer was "only a small subset of the many difficulties caused by the way the protocol is operating".

"We need comprehensive and durable solutions if we are to avoid further disruption to everyday lives in Northern Ireland," the spokesperson added.

With regard to the issue of medical supplies, the commission said it would be willing to change the rules to allow medical regulators in the UK to approve medicines for transport to and use in Northern Ireland, but they would have to implement EU law, which the spokesperson said was "a welcome start" but still not sufficient progress.

"It would be complex to operate, onerous and would not deal at all with those medicines, such as new cancer drugs, which under current arrangements must be licensed by the European Medicines Agency in Northern Ireland," the spokesperson added.