Thread by @tconnellyRTE

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs @simoncoveney has said there could be freer flowing trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the Protocol if the UK agreed to align more closely to EU food safety and animal and plant health standards.

2/ A vetinary agreement between both sides, or some form of “equivalence” arrangement, could lower trade barriers in areas where the UK is demanding flexibility from the European Commission, such as seed potatoes, seeds, potted plants, and pets, he said.

3/ Speaking following a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, Mr Coveney said: “In some of those cases the UK government has the capacity to facilitate that change if they want to agree to a different approach when it comes to equivalence of standards, for example.

4/ "So, if we had equivalence in terms of veterinary standards and SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary rules], that would create fewer barriers to free flowing trade.”

He said that many Northern Ireland businesses were positively disposed to such an idea.

5/ Mr Coveney also said the EU was prepared to be “flexible” and “generous” in easing the burden of the Protocol on NI businesses, but the UK had to follow through on its commitments to the EU last December, such as a promise to give EU observers real time access to customs data,

6/ ...and to provide data on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

“When the EU made compromises in a pragmatic way to try to get agreement on implementation they expected that the British government would follow through on those commitments,” he told reporters.

7/ Asked about the joint unionist legal action to seek to overturn the Protocol, Mr Coveney said “people had a right” to take legal challenges. However, the Protocol was now part of international law.

8/ “Of course, people have a right to legally challenge anything they want to, but you know this has been voted on in the British Parliament. It's part of an international treaty now, and I think we have an obligation to be honest with people.

“The protocol is here to stay.”

9/ Mr Coveney said the European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic and the UK cabinet office minister Michael Gove had been working to find pragmatic solutions, with input from the Irish government.

10/ He added: “But let's not forget the context here. Brexit and the decisions around Brexit are what are causing the disruption. The Protocol was put in place to try to limit the disruption where possible, and it was signed up to by all sides...

11/ "...and designed by both the British government and the EU working together, and we have an obligation now to try and make sure that it works for everybody,” he said.