Brexit: UK urges EU to consider immediate overhaul of Northern Ireland Protocol

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9. Brexit: Von der Leyen rejects Boris Johnson bid to renegotiate Irish protocol

Source: The Guardian

Brexit: Von der Leyen rejects Boris Johnson bid to renegotiate Irish protocol

EU has already proposed changes to lessen impact on Northern Irish citizens, say officials

Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Aubrey Allegretti
Thu 22 Jul 2021 15.50 BST

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has rejected Boris Johnson’s move to renegotiate the Northern Irish protocol, raising the temperature of a simmering Brexit row.

“The EU will continue to be creative and flexible within the protocol framework. But we will not renegotiate,” she said after a call with the prime minister on Thursday.

EU sources said the call lasted about 30 minutes, and Von der Leyen made clear they spoke at Johnson’s request.

While not a surprise, her refusal – less than 24 hours after the government set out a plan to renegotiate a core part of the Brexit deal – is a blow to Johnson, who made repeated false claims that there would be no customs checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The EU has united against the UK blueprint to rewrite the Northern Irish protocol, a hard-fought agreement with Johnson in 2019 that created a customs border in the Irish Sea.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/22/von-der-leyen-rejects-boris-johnson-bid-to-renegotiate-irish-protocol