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The European Union will continue negotiations with Britain and will resist being “sparked” by a move by the London government to reverse previous agreements, chief negotiator Michel Barnier told a meeting of ambassadors from member states in Brussels.
The ambassadors described the introduction by the British government of a bill that would nullify parts of the withdrawal agreement made last year as a knowing violation of an earlier agreement and of international law that had damaged trust.
The sentiment at the meeting was that the bloc “must not be provoked and must continue negotiations calmly,” said an EU diplomat.
However, “in the end, for some ambassadors it was not conceivable to sign another agreement, if only they broke the last one,” added the diplomat.
“The message from Barnier and the member states was to keep calm and carry on, and there was a strong focus on the need not to react to a provocation by the UK,” said a separate EU diplomatic source.
“There was a certain degree of outrage at how London was perceived to be spinning around this ‘food blockade’ issue, a certain degree of dismay over that.”
The EU can take legal action against the UK. The internal markets bill proposed by the government continues its approval and is not modified to eliminate aspects that nullify the previous agreement.
Under the withdrawal agreement agreed last year, disputes between the two parties can be resolved by an independent arbitration panel, which can impose fines or refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The EU has given Britain until September 30 to amend the domestic markets bill, and said last week it would “not be shy” in taking legal action.
Some ambassadors were said to have reacted angrily to events in London, particularly to a claim by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the EU was trying to impose a food “blockade” on Northern Ireland, describing this as a “turnaround”.
The dispute revolves around the possibility of the EU listing Britain as an approved non-EU source of animal food, which is necessary for products to be sold from Britain to the EU.
The EU side believes that listing shouldn’t be a problem, The Irish Times understands, but insists that London set out its planned changes to food regulations first, as the British side has indicated they will make changes later. January 1 without specifying what they will be.
The dispute spread to social media earlier this week, with Barnier insisting that the EU “does not refuse to list” the UK, and his British counterpart, David Frost, responded that the food standards rules of the United Kingdom on January 1 are “perfectly clear” as will be EU rules, and that the EU will be notified of any changes “with enough time to wait.”
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