LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Brexit minister David Frost said that the European Union needs to make significant change if there is to be a deal over the Northern Irish part of the Brexit divorce deal, Politico reported.
The EU on Wednesday offered Britain a package of measures to ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland.
Frost made clear the EU’s proposals as they stand were ultimately unacceptable as London wanted a major concession from Brussels on the role of Court of Justice oversight in Northern Ireland, Politico reported.
“They will need to if we are to find a solution, there needs to be significant change if we are to get an agreed solution,” Frost said in an interview with Politico.
“All I can say is the governance issue needs to be addressed seriously and if the EU are willing to have a conversation about that on which they move off existing positions obviously we will be happy to have that conversation,” Frost said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed up to the so-called Northern Ireland protocol as part of his Brexit agreement in 2020, but has since argued it was agreed in haste and was no longer working for the people of Northern Ireland.
Frost has for months called on the EU to allow some changes to the protocol to ease trade in some goods between Britain and Northern Ireland.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Editing by Paul Sandle)
