LONDON – Britain’s Brexit minister David Frost said on Friday that significant gaps remained with the European Union across most issues relating to the Northern Irish protocol and that if no solution could be found, then Article 16 would be used.
“Significant gaps remain across most issues,” Frost said. “We have not yet made substantive progress on the fundamental customs and SPS issues relating to goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.”
Frost said Britain wanted a consensus solution but one that constituted “a significant change from the current situation”.
“If no such solution can be found, we remain prepared to use the safeguard provisions under Article 16, which are a legitimate recourse under the Protocol in order for the government to meet its responsibilities to the people of Northern Ireland,” he said.
