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European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic PA
Brexit
Brexit negotiator Sefcovic says trust broken with the EU in row over Northern Ireland Protocol
European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said a compromise can still be found.
11.34am, 30 Dec 2021
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“LONDON HAS BREACHED a great deal of trust” with Europe, the bloc’s chief negotiator has claimed.
European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic told German news website Der Spiegel that problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol – a way to maintain a free-flowing land border on the island of Ireland after Brexit – meant the UK “broke international law” in trying to get round the arrangement.
But he said he is still confident that a compromise can be found between the two sides, although he admitted it will not be easy.
Sefcovic told Der Spiegel he is “pragmatic” about Foreign Secretary Liz Truss taking on responsibility for post-Brexit negotiations with the EU, after Brexit minister Lord Frost resigned earlier this month.
But he warned that if Truss was to trigger Article 16, a move that would effectively unilaterally suspend the treaty agreed between the UK and the EU, it would throw into jeopardy “the foundation of the entire deal” reached between the two sides.
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Truss has said she remains prepared to invoke Article 16 if issues are not resolved.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss PA
PA
But Sefcovic said: “This is a very distracting element in the discussions. You try to achieve something together and – bam – there’s the threat of Article 16 again.
“It touches on the fundamentals of our relationship.
“The Northern Ireland Protocol was the most complicated part of the Brexit negotiations, and it is the foundation of the entire deal. Without the protocol, the whole system will collapse. We must prevent that at any cost.”
He added: “London has breached a great deal of trust, which we must first rebuild. But I believe we can find a compromise.
“The EU and the United Kingdom are strategic partners – and they should treat each other as such.”
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Question 8 has a photo of Galway Cathedral & not St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, Galway as indicated. They are two different Cathedrals, one church of Ireland and the other Catholic
@Pete Blake: There is only one cathedral (RC) in Galway whose official title is the Cathedral of our Lady assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas. Then there is the collegiate church of St Nicholas (CoI), part of the Tuam diocese, and the town where the CoI cathedral is.
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