Category Archives: David Frost

Joe Biden supports EU position on Northern Ireland, says Von der Leyen

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Brussels chief says US president agrees Britain should not ditch post-Brexit protocol

Ursula von der Leyen has claimed that the EU’s position on Northern Ireland has the support of the US president, as Brussels prepares a “ladder” of retaliatory options up to and including the suspension of the UK trade deal over Boris Johnson’s threats to ditch the current post-Brexit arrangements.

After a meeting at the White House, the European Commission president said Joe Biden was in agreement with the bloc that Johnson should not upend the tortuously negotiated Northern Ireland protocol.

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Brexit: EU warns of ‘serious consequences’ if UK invokes article 16

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Maroš Šefčovič says Brussels has seen no concessions from UK side in Northern Ireland protocol dispute

Britain and the EU appear on the brink of a trade war after Brussels accused Boris Johnson of lacking sincerity in negotiations over Northern Ireland’s future and warned of “serious consequences” if Downing Street suspended the post-Brexit deal.

As he emerged from his latest tense meeting with the UK’s Brexit minister, the EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said that despite Brussels’ attempts to find a compromise, “we have seen no move at all from the UK side”.

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David Frost says EU close to breaching Brexit deal over science programme

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Minister ‘quite concerned’ about delay to finalising UK’s participation in €80bn Horizon Europe scheme

A fresh Brexit row has been blown open with Brussels after David Frost accused the EU of being close to breaching the trade deal struck last Christmas.

He said the UK was “getting quite concerned” about Brussels delaying ratification of the UK’s participation in the €80bn (£67bn) Horizon Europe research programme, costing British scientists their place in pan-European research programmes.

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Frost says there is big gap between UK and EU at Northern Ireland Brexit talks

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Brussels has been ‘preparing for worst’, with options ranging from tariffs on UK imports to ditching deal

David Frost, the UK’s Brexit minister, has warned there is a big gap between the EU and the UK negotiating positions as he enters talks with the European Commission over changes to the arrangements for trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The EU has offered to sweep away most customs and health checks on animal and plant products entering Northern Ireland under a revision of the current system but both sides privately recognise that fundamental differences remain between their visions for the future.

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EU offers to scrap 80% of NI food checks but prepares for Johnson to reject deal

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Maroš Šefčovič attempts to end tussle at press conference but ‘big gap’ remains to UK’s demands

The EU will scrap 80% of checks on foods entering Northern Ireland from Britain but Brussels officials were “preparing for the worst” amid signs Boris Johnson is set to reject the terms of the deal.

Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s Brexit commissioner, also announced that customs checks on manufactured goods would be halved as part of a significant concession to ease post-Brexit border problems.

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EU ready to scrap most post-Brexit checks on British goods entering NI

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Offer to lift up to 50% of customs checks aims to turn page on troubled relationship with Boris Johnson

The EU will offer to remove a majority of post-Brexit checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland as it seeks to turn the page on the rancorous relationship with Boris Johnson.

Up to 50% of customs checks on goods would be lifted and more than half the checks on meat and plants entering Northern Ireland would be abandoned under the bold offer from Brussels.

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EU ‘close to the end of the road’ over Northern Ireland protocol

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Point will come when EU says ‘enough, we cannot compromise any more’, warns Irish foreign minister

The EU is close to the end of the road with the UK over the Northern Ireland protocol, accusing David Frost, the Brexit minister, of trying to undermine serious attempts to solve the problem, the Irish foreign minister has said.

Simon Coveney said he had spoken to Lord Frost’s counterpart, the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, on Sunday. They have agreed there would come a point when “the EU will say: enough, we cannot compromise any more”, Coveney said.

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UK promises ‘robust’ reaction if EU starts trade war over Northern Ireland

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Brexit minister says he expects Brussels response to UK demand to renegotiate protocol within 10 days

The UK will react in a “robust” manner if the EU launches a retaliatory trade war in the event of Brexit talks on Northern Ireland breaking down, the government has warned.

The Brexit minister, David Frost, said he expected the EU to issue its formal response to the UK’s demand for renegotiation of the Northern Ireland protocol within the next 10 days, as he outlined fresh detail on the timeline for talks.

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Rules on GM farming and cars to be top of UK bonfire of EU laws

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Minister reveals plans to change laws inherited from EU, with rules on medical devices also in crosshairs

Rules on genetically modified farming, medical devices and vehicle standards will be top of a bonfire of laws inherited from the EU as the government seeks to change legislation automatically transferred to the UK after Brexit.

Thousands of laws and regulations are to be reviewed, modified or repealed under a new programme aimed at cementing the UK’s independence and “Brexit opportunities”, David Frost has announced.

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David Frost: Irish Sea row risks damaging UK-EU relations long term

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Minister says government will not ‘sweep away’ NI Brexit protocol, but renews demands for major changes

The UK will not “sweep away” the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol, despite renewed calls for its abolition by the Democratic Unionist party, the Brexit minister has said.

However, David Frost renewed his demands for fundamental changes on its implementation, warning the row could have a long-term chilling effect on wider EU-UK relations unless it was resolved.

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UK rejects EU’s Northern Ireland moves, saying Brexit deal must be renegotiated

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Downing Street says Brussels overtures are insufficient and ‘comprehensive’ solutions needed

Boris Johnson has rejected Brussels’ latest attempt to iron out problems with the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, insisting that the withdrawal agreement signed last year must be renegotiated.

Related: If Britain wants to resolve the Northern Ireland protocol, this is not the way to do it | Anand Menon and Jill Rutter

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UK-EU relations deteriorate again after ‘strange’ David Frost remarks

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Irish foreign minister hits out at Brexit minister over provocative article on Northern Ireland protocol

The EU fears that Boris Johnson wants to “dismantle” the Northern Ireland protocol, the Irish foreign minister has said, as relations between Brussels and London deteriorated again after remarks by the Brexit minister David Frost in the past 24 hours.

Simon Coveney told RTÉ on Sunday that EU leaders feared the worst after what he felt was a provocative article written by Lord Frost and the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, in the Irish Times on Saturday.

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UK and EU try to settle standoff over Northern Ireland Brexit checks

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Brexit minister and EU Commission official to meet this week as tensions remain high

The Brexit minister Lord Frost and the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, are expected to meet virtually this week to try to break the deadlock over Brexit checks in Northern Ireland.

But as the countdown begins to a 30 June ban on the sale of chilled meats, including sausages, from Great Britain in Northern Irish supermarkets, tensions between the EU and Boris Johnson’s government remain heightened.

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EU-UK talks on Northern Ireland appear close to collapse on eve of G7

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‘Patience wearing very thin,’ says EU negotiator, while Joe Biden expected to raise ‘deep concerns’ about issue at summit

Talks between the EU and the UK over Northern Ireland appear on the brink of collapse as London indicated it was still considering unilateral action to keep unhindered supplies flowing from Great Britain into the region.

The European commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, said patience was “wearing very, very thin” and described the relationship with the UK as “at a crossroads”.

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Trade war threats will not wash with voters, Frost tells EU as row deepens

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UK considering unilaterally extending grace periods under Northern Ireland protocol

The row between the UK and the EU over checks on sausages and other chilled foods sent from Britain to Northern Ireland has deepened, with the Brexit minister telling Brussels that trade war threats will not wash with voters.

As a major meeting on Wednesday approached, Lord Frost said: “Further threats of legal action and trade retaliation from the EU won’t make life any easier for the shopper in Strabane who can’t buy their favourite product. Nor will it benefit the small business in Ballymena struggling to source produce from their supplier in Birmingham.”

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EU and UK hold ‘productive’ talks on Northern Ireland crisis

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Brexit minister David Frost says momentum has been established in efforts to ease tensions

Talks between the EU and UK to ease tensions in Northern Ireland have been described as “productive” and “constructive” with momentum now established to achieve a solution to the crisis, the Brexit minister, David Frost, has said.

But the EU used the first face-to-face meeting since lockdown between Lord Frost and the European commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, to warn that the outcome needed to be jointly agreed.

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Biden urges UK and EU to preserve Northern Irish peace amid Brexit row

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Remarks follow EU formally launching legal action over protocol arrangements in the region

The White House has urged London and Brussels to work together to preserve the peace in Northern Ireland, after the EU formally launched legal action against the UK over Brexit arrangements in the region.

Joe Biden’s spokesperson said: “We continue to encourage both the EU and the UK government to prioritise pragmatic solutions to safeguard and advance the hard-won peace in Northern Ireland.”

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Brexit negotiations expected to resume despite UK’s tough rhetoric

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Michael Gove confirms British government’s door to re-engagement with Brussels is ‘ajar’

Brussels expects the Brexit negotiations to resume within days, as Michael Gove confirmed that despite Downing Street’s tough rhetoric the door remained “ajar” on re-engagement.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, will hold a video conference call with his British counterpart, David Frost, on Monday afternoon to discuss the structure of future talks.

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