BREXIT: EU Sues UK For Breach Of Withdrawal Agreement
The European Union Commission, on Thursday, filed infringement proceedings against the United Kingdom(UK) over what it termed as the “breach of its obligations in its Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.”
This was contained in a press statement published on EU’s website, seen by our correspondent.
Advertisement
“The European Commission has today sent the United Kingdom a letter of formal notice for breaching its obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement.
“This marks the beginning of a formal infringement process against the United Kingdom. It has one month to reply to today’s letter.
“As a result, the Commission has launched infringement proceedings today in line with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement,” it stated.
THE WHISTLER earlier reported that UK had on February 1 officially terminated its 47 years of membership in the EU.
Advertisement
It held that it would no longer be under the Union, but would rather cooperate with the EU.
But, EU said that the UK was yet to fulfil its part of the withdrawal agreement particularly with regards to the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocols
The protocol stipulated that Northern Ireland (which is part of the UK) will operate by EU’s customs rules and abide by its rules on product standards(market).
“Article 5 of the Withdrawal Agreement states that the European Union and the United Kingdom must take all appropriate measures to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations arising from the Withdrawal Agreement, and that they must refrain from any measures which could jeopardise the attainment of those objectives.
“Both parties are bound by the obligation to cooperate in good faith in carrying out the tasks stemming from the Withdrawal Agreement.
Advertisement
“On 9 September 2020, the UK government tabled a Bill (‘United Kingdom Internal Market Bill’) that, if adopted, would flagrantly violate the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland, as it would allow the UK authorities to disregard the legal effect of the Protocol’s substantive provisions under the Withdrawal Agreement,” it stated.
EU stressed it was expecting the UK to backtrack from its new move but that had not happened.
“Representatives of the UK government have acknowledged this violation, stating that its purpose was to allow it to depart in a permanent way from the obligations stemming from the Protocol.
“The UK government has failed to withdraw the contentious parts of the Bill, despite requests by the European Union; by doing so, the UK has breached its obligation to act in good faith, as set out in Article 5 of the Withdrawal Agreement, ” it stated.
However, it added that UK Government had one month to reply its formal notice.
“The UK has until the end of this month to submit its observations to the letter of formal notice. After examining these observations, or if no observations have been submitted, the Commission may, if appropriate, decide to issue a Reasoned Opinion,” it stated.
Advertisement
The UK Government is yet to officially react to the development, as of the time of this report.
