EU launches legal action against UK for breaching Brexit deal and international law

The European Commission has initiated legal proceedings against the United Kingdom for breach of the Brexit agreement approved last year. This was announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The reason is the law on the internal market, which the British House of Commons approved on Tuesday without any amendments. According to Leyen, this destroyed mutual trust.

The European Union has asked the British government to delete passages in breach of the legally binding agreement from the Internal Market Bill by the end of September.

The deadline expired yesterday (Wednesday) and the problematic passages were not removed. That is why today the commission decided to send a letter to the British government, which formally initiates infringement proceedings, "said von der Leyen. According to her, Brussels is still open to dialogue.

The law violates one of the pillars of the Brexit agreement concluded by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year with the European Union. The standard is aimed at the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, which stipulates that this part of the United Kingdom will be subject to the rules of the single market after the Brexit transition period. The aim is to prevent border controls between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which has remained part of the EU.

Britain has not been a member of the EU since the end of January, but during a transitional period lasting until the end of the year, it is subject to membership obligations, the fulfillment of which is controlled by the EC.