On October 25, the British government issued a statement warning that the United Kingdom and the European Union still have "differences" on issues related to Northern Ireland in the Brexit agreement. The European Commission's negotiation team will travel to London on the 26th for "several days of in-depth discussions".
According to reports, the United Kingdom pointed out in the statement that although the dialogues in the past few days have been "constructive", there are still "differences" on some major issues.
The United Kingdom and the EU reached the "Northern Ireland Protocol" in the Withdrawal Agreement, implementing special arrangements to allow Northern Ireland to effectively remain in the EU customs union and the European single market, avoiding the establishment of a "hard border" between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
In this case, goods destined for Northern Ireland from mainland Britain are subject to inspection to prevent risky goods from entering Ireland, a member of the European Union.
In this regard, some pro-British factions in Northern Ireland complained that border inspections between Britain and Northern Ireland would cause estrangement between the two sides. Brussels has proposed reducing customs checks and paperwork for British products into Northern Ireland in an attempt to ease tensions with pro-British factions.
However, despite the progress made on the issue of border checks, the EU said it would not accept London's request to find another arbitrator to replace the European Court of Justice to resolve the post-Brexit trade dispute involving Northern Ireland.
The UK therefore threatens to activate the mechanism of article 16 of the agreement, whereby either party may act unilaterally if it believes that the agreement is causing "serious economic, social or environmental difficulties that may persist".
Source: China News Network