DUBLIN - Britain and the European Union both need to be ready to compromise on resolving the trading situation of Northern Ireland and London's threat to trigger a suspension of parts of the Brexit divorce deal would not be helpful, a senior EU official said on Thursday.
"A lot has been said by the UK politicians about the possibility of the UK triggering article 16. I do not think that this has been helpful. It distracts us from working together to find solutions," European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic told a seminar about the protocol on Northern Ireland.
"It has taken us five long years to get where we are today. So it is clear that there are no quick, easy-fix solutions to what is a extremely complex situation," he said, adding practical solutions could be found if the spirit of compromise was mutual.