European Commission responds to @DavidGHFrost article in the @DailyMailUK on Sunday on the NI Protocol, in which he repeated the claim the Protocol was not sustainable
2/ Spokesman @DanielFerrie said: "As President von der Leyen said recently: 'We need solutions – not soundbites – if we are to make the Protocol work for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland.
3/ "'This is the commitment and responsibility we all took when we agreed to the Protocol. And the EU is steadfast in its determination to make it work.'
4/ "The EU and the UK agreed – just over a year ago, after extensive negotiations – that the Protocol is the best way to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland.
5/ "It provides a solution in Northern Ireland to the problems created by Brexit and the type of Brexit that the current British government chose. If we are to achieve our goals, then we need to implement our agreement.
6/ "This is a shared responsibility and we expect the UK to uphold its political commitment.
Every step of the way, the EU has tried to enhance dialogue and to work constructively with the UK at technical and political level to find solutions, in line with the Protocol,
That is why we have been engaging intensively with our UK counterparts at expert level. These exchanges have been constructive. We are making progress.
8/ "We will continue with this engagement in order to find solutions. The various unhelpful comments in the press will not prevent us from doing so. Our focus is on making the Protocol work for the people of Northern Ireland, and across the island of Ireland.
9/ "Only joint solutions, agreed in the joint bodies established by the Withdrawal Agreement, can provide the stability and predictability that people and businesses need to take advantage of the opportunities of the Protocol.
10/ Finally, Vice-President Šefčovič remains committed to engaging with stakeholders in Northern Ireland – jointly with Lord Frost – to listen to their concerns and to see what can be done."
Lord Frost tells the House of Lords European Affairs Committee there is "some limited progress on some of the 20-30" or so issues around the NI protocol
2/ Frost complains that the BBC reported on a roadmap to UK phasing in controls. Says there are two documents - two versions, one which is owned by us, one owned by the EU and they're evolving. We'd prefer to see if we can get further in the confidential negotiation
3/ Frost says on an SPS agreement, "it's a fundemntal issue of principle that we do not align with the EU on any areas." Hope agreements might be reached very soon. "What we wd like to see is an equivalence arrangement"
Lord Frost says the EU believes the easiest solution to NI Protocol food shipments issue is that "we shd operate the same laws, obviously that doesn’t work for us, that isn’t going to be the solution, that was the prob with the original backstop.
2/ "That doesn’t mean we can’t find agreements in arrangements in certain areas, eg equivalence, where no there's requirement to align but you accept you’re pursuing high standards. It shd mean fewer checks and processes, the EU have not wished to do so.
3/Frost says there is a broader question: the processes around the boundary between GB and NI are significant, have probably had a bigger chilling effect than we thought on GB businesses moving goods into NI, this is underlying the unrest and political developments.
Frost on problems with UK fish exports: there were some teething problems. We’ve given a lot of support to industry concerned, that's having an effect, practical issues, groupage, speed of exports being dealt with, to a large extent these disruptions have been overcome.
2/ There have been isolated incients of EU customs officials, national officals, complinaing about wrong stamp, colour of pen, but these are isolated incidents, EU side has been pragmatic.
3/ Broader fisheries issues: there's a process of adjustment. "Too many of our EU friends, fish groups throught we had agreed to five years of no changes, but that's not true. We have the right to regulate in UK waters, getting used to that is at the root of problems.
NEW: The UK’s lead minister on the Northern Ireland Protocol has said the Protocol was “not sustainable” if it continued to operate as it currently does.
2/ @DavidGHFrost also warned that the British government was "considering all options" in responding to how the Protocol was implemented.
3/ Speaking after meeting businesses on his first visit to NI, Lord Frost said: “Businesses have gone to extraordinary efforts to make the current requirements work, but it is hard to see that the way the Protocol is currently operating can be sustainable for long.”
Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs @simoncoveney says there is "pressure" on the EU and UK to come up with solutions to the Northern Ireland Protocol tensions by June, ahead of the loyalist marching season.
2/ Speaking after a meeting with @MarosSefcovic, Mr Coveney said: “The last thing we want to see is [to be] moving into a marching season this summer, without Covid restrictions keeping people in their homes, without many of these issues resolved politically.
3/ “So, I think there is a pressure that we find a way to come up with solutions by some point in June, and I think the Commission is very much aware of that and I'm sure the British government is too.”
Some key quotes from @MichelBarnier's book The Grand Illusion:
2/ On his meeting with Nigel Farage, who, he says, told him the £350m Vote Leave bus message was a mistake: “Yes, that was a mistake, I had told Boris not to do it”, Barnier reports Farage as saying. "Could you be more cynical?" he asks
3/ On Theresa May: "A very direct woman, convinced of what she is saying, wanting to impose her authority, as she had done by announcing elections, a desire for power, enough to want to negotiate a Brexit where the damage is limited, while she knows it will be a negative event.."