Brexit: New NI Protocol proposals to be brought by EU

The EU will bring forward new proposals for the Northern Ireland Protocol next week.

The European Commission Vice President Maros Šefčovič said he hopes they would form the basis for intensive talks with the UK.

Mr Šefčovič told an event in Dublin that he hoped talks would begin before the end of October.

He said his proposals would be "very far reaching" and that he hoped they would be seen as such.

The NI Protocol is the Brexit deal agreed by the UK and EU to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

It does this by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods.

However, it is opposed by unionist parties in Northern Ireland, which say it undermines Northern Ireland's constitutional position as part of the UK.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - Northern Ireland's largest unionist party - warned that it may quit Stormont if its demands over the protocol were not met.

Earlier this week UK Brexit Minister Lord Frost said he was expecting a short, intense negotiation with the EU.

He told the Conservative party conference that the protocol - put in place to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland - was "not working and needs to change".

In July, Lord Frost put forward radical proposals for changes to the protocol.

Triggering Article 16, which would suspend part of the deal, may end up as "the only way" forward, he warned.

Mr Šefčovič said threats to trigger Article 16 were not helpful.

He told the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin that his proposals were not presented on a "take it or leave it" basis and that both the UK and EU would need to get out of their comfort zones.