Northern Ireland

Maros Sefcovic says EU ready to cut checks and controls 'to the absolute bare minimum' if the British government engages with Brussels

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic. Picture by AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert
European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic. Picture by AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic. Picture by AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

THE VICE-PRESIDENT of the European Commission has said the EU is prepared to cut checks and controls "to the absolute bare minimum" if the British government engages with Brussels to solve concerns around the protocol.

Maros Sefcovic said the EU had a "very clear" plan to counter the "constant uncertainty" of UK plans to scrap the protocol.

Earlier this week, the British government published legislation that aims to disapply many aspects of the deal Downing Street agreed with Brussels 18 months ago.

Firms in the north currently enjoy what's characterised as a 'best of both worlds' situation where they can trade freely with Europe and Britain, but the British government claims the existing protocol is too much of a bureaucratic burden for businesses.

"We are not only talking about cutting more than 80 per cent of the SPS checks and more than 50 per cent of customs procedures, we have a very clear recipe on how to do it," Mr Sefcovic said.

"I was showing the press conference our two and a half page long SPS certificate, so not 30 not 300 pages as it was represented by some in London - two and a half pages – and that would be for one lorry and it could be done just once per month.

"So this is really the minimum bureaucracy and we are really to push the checks and controls to the absolute bare minimum," he told RTÉ News.

Meanwhile, the European vice-president has said that the north's businesses would lose access to the EU single market if the British government's perseveres with plans to override the protocol.

He also warned that the Tories' aim to remove the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as the ultimate arbiter in trade disputes would also jeopardise single market access.

Mr Sefcovic said that the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) only remit in Northern Ireland was to rule on the European law and the rules of the single market.

"What I can tell you with 100 per cent certainty is that I cannot imagine that there will be access for Northern Ireland to the single market without respecting the fact that the European Court of Justice is the ultimate arbiter on adopting the rulings on how the EU law and single market rules are applied,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.

He said that the ECJ “will always rule to protect the rights of the businesspeople coming from Northern Ireland [who] would be placing their goods on the European single market”.

The European Commission vice-president said that he had "never heard" that the ECJ was a "real concern coming from Northern Ireland stakeholders".

Mr Sefcovic declined to say what course of action the EU would take if the British government applied its legislation, saying "we are not in the business of threatening everyone".

“But the reality is that the draft bill as it was presented was so unacceptable that of course, if it is approved as it is, we cannot exclude any action,” he said.

He said that the protocol “was considered the best possible [deal]” at the time and blamed the UK for having “wasted a year” through not seriously negotiating with the EU.

“I thought that by now we would be focusing on the opportunities, on new investment coming to Northern Ireland,” he said.

He said that “a lot of companies” from the EU, Canada and the US had told him they would like to invest in Northern Ireland “because it’s a unique place in the world — they have really the best of two worlds”.