Brexit: Frost to meet Šefčovič to discuss NI Protocol progress

Brexit Minister Lord Frost will meet his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič later.

They will assess whether any progress has been made in negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Šefčovič said this week would be "an important one".

Expectations of progress are low with the UK warning suspending parts of the deal, which leaves Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, will be the "only option" if talks break down.

If the protocol is causing serious difficulties either side can unilaterally suspend the relevant parts of it by using the Article 16 safeguards clause.

However, UK ministers have said such a move is not imminent.

On Thursday, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said Article 16 was there as a "safety mechanism", but he added they were "not at that point".

"And what we should be doing and what we are doing is working constructively with European friends and partners to explore every opportunity that we have to try and resolve some of our differences around the operation of their protocol," he said.

He added: "That's very much our priority."

The protocol leaves Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods.

That means that goods can flow freely between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, removing the threat of a "hard border".

However, goods arriving into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK are now subject to checks and control - amounting to what is being referred to as an "Irish Sea border".