Brexit: Lord Frost urges EU to work with Britain to resolve Northern Ireland protocol

Brexit minister Lord Frost has urged the European Union to work with Britain to come to a resolution on the Northern Ireland protocol.

During a speech in Lisbon, Lord Frost admitted the UK and Brussels had a "somewhat fractious relationship" following Brexit, and accused the EU of using Northern Ireland to try and reverse the referendum result.

He said: “And now, as we look at Europe from the UK, now that we’ve left the EU and its rules, the geopolitics of Britain’s position as an offshore island with particular allies, but global interests, come back to the forefront.

“Brexit has changed our international interests and hence will change our patterns of European relationships. Not necessarily fundamentally, but significantly.”

He said the UK would be “setting a different path on economic policy” because “Brexit means competition” and it was “a democratic project that’s bringing politics back home”.

But he added: “The EU and we have got into a low equilibrium, somewhat fractious relationship, but it need not always be like that. But also it takes two to fix it.

“Fixing the very serious problem we have in the Northern Ireland Protocol is a prerequisite for getting to that better place.”

He added: “The Northern Ireland Protocol is the biggest source of mistrust between us and for all kinds of reasons we need to fix this problem," he said.

“I do understand why the EU finds it difficult to come back to an agreement that was reached only two years ago. Though obviously, that in itself is far from unusual in international relations.

Tensions in Northern Ireland threaten to bubble over regarding the protocol.
Peter Morrison

“Equally, there’s a widespread feeling in the UK that the EU did try to use Northern Ireland to encourage UK political forces to reverse the referendum result, or at least to keep us closely aligned with EU.

“And moreover, that the protocol represents a moment of EU overreach when the UK’s negotiating hand was tied, and therefore cannot reasonably last in its current form.”

He added that he was sharing new proposals for an amended protocol with the EU in the hope of resolving the difficulties on Northern Ireland.

He said: “We’re now heading into a crucial few weeks. We await the proposals that are coming tomorrow from Maros Sefcovic and the commission in response to our ideas.

“I want to be clear, we’ll be really ready to discuss them whatever they say, and we will obviously consider them seriously, fully and positively.

“But I repeat, if we’re going to get to a solution, we must collectively deliver significant change. We need the EU to show the same ambition and willingness to tackle the fundamental issues of the heart of the protocol head on.”

More follows.