The EU has unveiled a series of proposals that would slash the red tape burden on Irish Sea trade created by Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.
The European Commission measures would see an 80% reduction in checks envisaged for retail agri-food products arriving in the region from Great Britain.
Announcing the proposals on Wednesday night, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said the EU had “turned our rules upside down and inside out” to find a solution to the NI protocol issues.
It comes after Dominic Cummings has claimed that Downing Street always intended to “ditch” the parts of the Brexit deal and that Boris didn’t actually understand what the agreement meant.
The former chief adviser to the Prime Minister claimed Boris Johnson “never had a scoobydoo” on the implications of the deal as the government urges Brussels to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Cummings’ comments – which came as the EU pledged “very far-reaching” proposals to fix the situation – were described as “very alarming” by Ireland's deputy premier, Leo Varadkar, who warned political leaders not to enter any agreements with the UK Government until they are “confident that they keep their promises”.
