Brexit Minister Lord Frost is gearing up for a fresh fight with Brussels in the latest clash over the “sausage war” and Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Conservative peer will deliver a speech in Lisbon tomorrow outlining the Government’s demand for an overhaul of the mechanism designed to prevent a hard border between Ulster and the Republic.
The EU is expected to offer its formal response to the UK’s plan for a shake-up on Wednesday.
The bloc’s suggestion is thought to include an exemption for “national identity food products” - allowing sausages and other goods to enter Northern Ireland from mainland Great Britain after the end of previously-agreed grace periods.
But Lord Frost, who has given the EU until early next month to thrash out a lasting solution, is set to say the proposal is not enough.
He wants the bloc to scrap its looming ban on British chilled meats entering Northern Ireland altogether.
The peer is also expected to urge Brussels to show “ambition” and make “significant changes” to the protocol.
He is also due to call for an end to the reach of the European Court of Justice in overseeing the mechanism - despite Boris Johnson agreeing the move in his Brexit divorce pact.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Without new arrangements on governance, the protocol will never have the support it needs to survive.
“This is not a side issue, this is a fundamental issue which needs to be addressed if the protocol is to be put on a durable footing.”
The protocol governs Northern Ireland’s 310-mile border with the Republic – the UK's only land frontier with the EU.
It effectively keeps the province in the bloc’s single market.
But the system creates a trade barrier in the Irish Sea for goods crossing from Great Britain – something the PM previously promised he would never agree to.
Unionists in the province say it splits the UK and British ministers are desperate for EU leaders to give ground.
But bloc chiefs say Mr Johnson should honour the pact he made.
Downing Street has claimed governance was “central” and “core” to the latest standoff with Brussels.
“It simply isn’t sustainable for the EU to make laws which apply in Northern Ireland without any kind of democratic scrutiny or discussion - that’s a point we have made on a number of occasions,” said the spokesman.
“It’s unheard of for a bilateral agreement to be policed by the courts of one of the parties.”
Tackled as to why the Government signed the deal in 2019, No10 insisted the agreement was reached “in good faith at the time”, adding: “It was formed in the spirit of compromise and in challenging circumstances.
“Since then we have seen how the EU is inclined to operate the governance arrangements.”
Sinn Fein accused the UK Government of shifting the goalposts by demanding the removal of the European Court of Justice's role in the protocol.
MLA Declan Kearney questioned whether the Government was throwing a "dead cat" on the negotiating table because the EU was about to "call their bluff" by tabling proposals that would resolve the practical difficulties with Irish Sea trade.
However, Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson warned there were "genuine issues" with European judges having the final say on trading disputes involving Northern Ireland.
