EU launches fresh legal action over Northern Ireland border rules

The EU has launched fresh legal action against the UK over its enforcement of post-Brexit trading rules in Northern Ireland.

It has accused the UK of failing to apply customs and tax rules it agreed as part of its 2019 exit agreement.

The arrangements have led to a bitter diplomatic row - with the UK now arguing they disrupt trade too much.

The latest legal claims come on top of a separate challenge to UK plans to override the agreed checks.

Relations between the two sides have soured since the UK tabled a law allowing it to scrap parts of the arrangements without the EU's say-so.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill passed its final stages in the House of Commons earlier this week, but faces a potentially rough ride in the Lords later this year.

The EU, opposition parties and some Tory MPs argue the bill goes against the deal the UK signed and breaches international law.

The border arrangements, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, were designed to avoid checks at the UK's border with the Republic of Ireland.

However, they have become highly unpopular among unionists in Northern Ireland, with the UK government now arguing they are too disruptive.

The European Commission has now launched four additional legal actions over the protocol, with the UK given an initial two months to reply to the complaints.

They relate to an alleged failure to provide the EU with data about exports from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, and implement agreed EU customs, VAT and alcohol excise rules.

They come in addition to two separate claims by the commission, filed last month, arguing the UK had failed to properly share trade data and set up border inspection posts.

In a statement, the commission said its latest actions were required to "secure compliance" with the border arrangements that the UK had agreed to.

It added that in a "spirit of constructive cooperation," it had held off from the legal actions for over a year whilst talks with the UK over changing the protocol were ongoing.

But it added that UK's "unwillingness to engage in meaningful discussion since last February", as well as the bill to scrap parts of the protocol, "go directly against this spirit".

The legal steps could eventually lead to the UK being fined under a dispute process overseen by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EU's top court.

However, the dispute process can take months to complete - and cases at the ECJ can take years to be heard.

What do to about relations with the EU over Northern Ireland is one of the big incoming challenges for the next Tory leader and UK prime minister, who will take office in early September.

Liz Truss, who as foreign secretary was responsible for introducing the protocol bill, has blamed EU "intransigence" for the current stand-off.

Her rival for the top job, former chancellor Rishi Sunak, has said the protocol poses challenges to the "the stability of the situation" in Northern Ireland.

In late 2021, it was reported he had urged Boris Johnson and his former chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost not to "blow up " talks with the EU about the protocol. At the time the Treasury declined to comment.