The European Union will not renegotiate the deal struck with Britain regarding the trading position in Northern Ireland as to do so would only lead to instability and uncertainty, a senior EU official said on Friday.
European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, who oversees post-Brexit EU relations with Britain, said in a speech that the Northern Ireland the protocol needed to be properly implemented and was not the cause of problems, but the only solution.
"A renegotiation of the protocol – as the UK government is suggesting – would mean instability, uncertainty and unpredictability in Northern Ireland," he said, according to the text of his speech at Queen's University in Belfast.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by John Chalmers)
