The EU is preparing to grant concessions on the Brexit ‘sausage war’ as an olive branch to ‘de-escalate’ the row over the Northern Ireland border.
Brussels is expected to offer a three month extension to the “grace period” tomorrow, allowing sausages and cold meats to cross the border.
They’re also expected to announce a change in EU law from next month to medicines licensed for use in Britain to be prescribed in Northern Ireland without being reassessed.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We expect to agree an extension to the chilled meats grace period soon on terms that are acceptable to the UK.”
The 'sausage war' broke out between Boris Johnson and EU leaders after Brussels refused to budge on trading rules that he himself agreed as part of his Brexit deal.
The grace period allowing chilled meats to cross the Irish Sea under the terms of the Brexit deal was due to expire at the end of the month.
Under the PM's 2019 Northern Ireland Protocol, many British goods crossing the Irish Sea west to Northern Ireland must undergo EU checks or fulfil EU rules.
This was designed to avoid a damaging "hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic - but has instead created a border in the Irish Sea.
With no agreement, It would mean a total ban on British "chilled meat preparations", including sausages, travelling to Belfast once the grace period expired on June 30.
On Monday, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic expressed confidence a resolution was on the horizon.
He said an "obvious" way to remove new Irish Sea trade checks and restrictions on a longer term basis would be for the UK to strike a deal on animal and plant standards that would see London align with Brussels agri-food regulations.
"While I cannot today announce the EU's formal agreement to the UK Government's request (for an extension), after all the internal contacts I have had I remain confident that we can find a solution within the next 48 hours that will address both sides' needs and concerns," he said.
Last week, EU Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida called for a “de-dramatisation” of rhetoric around the border row.
“I think our relationship will benefit from a certain degree of de-dramatisation of the political discourse,” he said.
“I think we should move on, and there are two ways of moving on. One is to score points on disputes of the past, and the other is to look forward and try to build this relationship on a solid basis, looking for solutions, looking for joint approaches to the problems that we all have. Maybe a new mindset is needed here.”
The concession comes alongside the deadline for EU citizens to apply for settled status in the UK.
While as many as 5 million people have applied for the scheme, Brussels sources fear many elderly and vulnerable people still don’t know about the rule change.
And while the Home Office has said it will be flexible and lenient, it remains unclear how enforcement will work.
