EU may consider stopping trade deal with Britain, media write

EU logo . File photoMOSCOW, May 19The EU may consider suspending its trade deal with the UK if London takes specific steps to amend the Brexit deal, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.Earlier British Foreign Office Liz Truss has announced that the government will present a bill in Parliament in the coming weeks to amend the protocol with the EU on Northern Ireland.»The EU executive is likely to propose suspending the entire trade deal if Prime Minister Boris Johnson follows through on his threats to pass legislation to unilaterally change parts of the Northern Ireland protocol,» the US said in a statement. — the agency said in a statement. It is noted that the final decision on the details and timing of such a measure will require the support of member states. The UK and the EU completed the Brexit transition period on January 1, then the trade and cooperation agreement between the parties came into effect. In accordance with the terms of the deal, Britain left the single market and the EU customs union, but the parties will continue free trade without duties and quotas. Britain continues to conclude bilateral trade agreements with non-EU countries. The UK government in July 2021 said that the protocol with the EU on Northern Ireland in the current format «does not work and does not achieve its goals» and London wants to make significant changes to it. In particular, they concern the introduction of a stricter and more targeted approach to the entry of goods from the UK into the EU single market. Earlier, in a conversation with EC Vice President Maros Sefcovic, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss said that if the EU does not show the necessary flexibility on the situation around the North Republic of Ireland, the country's government will be forced to take action. The situation around Northern Ireland escalated after the Northern Irish Sinn Féin party, which advocates unification with Ireland, won the majority of seats in the elections to the legislative assembly of the region, becoming the first nationalist party to take under its control the Assembly of Northern Ireland for 101 years of history. As a result, the Northern Ireland Assembly was unable to elect a new speaker as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) blocked his election as part of their protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol. and this led to a division of votes between the country's three unionist parties. For the first time, Sinn Féin called for a referendum in Northern Ireland on reunification with the Republic of Ireland in 2016, after Britain voted to leave the European Union. The Irish authorities have said that after reunification, Northern Ireland will regain EU membership. In 2019, before Brexit, Sinn Féin repeated the call for a referendum. Ireland was partitioned in May 1921, after which an independent region of Northern Ireland was created within the UK.Britain threatens EU over Northern Ireland