Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president and Brexit negotiator, signalled a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol with the UK Government could be reached “within weeks” on Monday.
Echoing his comments, made in Westminster during a meeting of British and European parliamentarians, Ireland Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday that the EU is willing to be “generous” with the UK Government in order to reach a deal.
But Brexiteer Ben Habib called on the EU’s bluff as he warned Mr Sefcovic will only look to pursue Brussels’ plan to “capitulate” Britain back into its shackles.
(Mr Habib said) “Maros Sefcovic recently said with political will the differences between the EU and the UK over the Protocol could be addressed. He means the opposite. He hopes for the customary absence of political will at Westminster and a British capitulation. He is certain to get what he wants.”
Lashing out against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he added: “There is no hope of Sunak standing up for the country.”
People are sick of the broken promises and betrayal by Westminster.
Discussing EU proposals to reduce checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, Mr Sefcovic said on Monday: “Is it too much to do this?
“Earlier, Mr Sefcovic told parliamentarians that he did not believe the EU and the UK were “worlds apart” on the protocol, as he warned that unilateral action by the Government would have “serious” consequences.”
It comes as Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to “work together” to end the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol, when they met for the first time at Cop27 in Egypt.
Mr Sunak inherits from his predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson the problem of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is vocally opposed by unionists who claim it cuts off the region from the rest of the UK.
The post-Brexit solution, designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, is cited as the Democratic Unionist Party’s main reason for refusing to return to powersharing.
Ms von der Leyen called it a “good first meeting”.
The above summary was derived from the story linked below
Source: ‘EU wants UK capitulation’: Brexiteer calls Sefcovic’s bluff and insists bloc won’t cave
