The European Commission carried out its threat on Thursday over launching legal action against the UK government regarding its law-breaking Internal Market Bill.
A LETTER OF FORMAL NOTICE HAS BEEN SENT TO THE UK GOVERNMENT
The British government has previously publicly admitted the bill breaks international law by unilaterally overriding key parts of the Withdrawal Agreement the UK signed with the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bill was a breach of the “good faith” provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement, and was “in full contradiction” to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“We had invited our British friends to remove the problematic parts of their draft Internal Market Bill by the end of September,” von der Leyen said. “The deadline lapsed yesterday. The problematic provisions have not been removed, therefore this morning, the Commission has decided to send a letter of formal notice to the UK government. This is the first step in an infringement procedure.”
“Besides this the Commission will continue to work hard towards a full and timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. We stand by our commitments,” she said.