The three weeks' talks with the European Union (EU) on the Northern Ireland protocol ha not led to the closure of substantial gaps on the issue said the UK Brexit minister David Frost. He further assured that Britain will not give up until exhausting all the negotiation possibilities.
The Brexit minister further told the House of lords that the aim of these negotiations was to access the chances of the possibilities to close the substantial gap in UK-EU positions and achieve the potential negotiated resolution.
Because EU proposals do not go far enough to make the protocol sustainable for the future, the negotiation has not been possible, added Frost.
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He said he wants to protect the integrity of the talks and remain positive.
"I will not give up on this process unless and until it is abundantly clear that nothing more can be done... If we do in due course reach that point, the Article 16 safeguards will be our only option," Frost said.
The Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol provides both the UK and the EU with a unilateral power to take action should the application of the protocol give rise to "serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade".
The UK and the EU view changing the protocol as a long-term solution to post-Brexit trade disruption in Northern Ireland. Britain outlined its proposals in a government paper in July, which observers interpreted as a renegotiation of the protocol.
In response, the EU published its own package to facilitate the movement of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland, including cutting customs formalities, simplified certification, and an 80 per cent reduction of checks on retail goods for Northern Ireland's consumers.
It said it would guarantee an uninterrupted supply of medicine to the people of Northern Ireland, by changing EU rules.
However, the two sides remain poles apart on the more challenging issue of the oversight role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
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