David Frost, the UK’s Brexit minister, is meeting EU Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The post-Brexit trade arrangement saw a sea border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in order to keep goods flowing freely between the North and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member.
The new arrangements have angered unionist communities and are believed to be one of the underlying factors fuelling recent riots in Belfast and other cities.
Dr Anna Jerzewska, a customs and international trade advisor, told Euronews there were always going to be issues: “From the moment that the protocol was published, it seemed quite obvious that there will be challenges in terms of the practical implementation … because there’s a lot that was not mentioned in the text.”
“There was a lot that was left out, meaning that obviously there will be a need for a practical solution of how to then implement it,” she added.
“And this is where we last year saw the difference in interpretation or different opinions between the UK and the EU on how this is supposed to be implemented. So there was no easy solution here.”
Watch Euronews’ full report in the player above.
