Little chance of new EU protocol mandate

Speaking at Westminster Joao Vale de Almeida said Boris Johnson’s threats to override part of the post-Brexit trade deal would provoke retaliation from the EU.

The ambassador said there was little prospect of the EU’s member states giving Brussels’ chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic a mandate to rewrite the protocol in his talks with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

Mr de Almeida continued: “It’s not very reassuring if you go into a negotiation where you are presented with two options – either renegotiation or unilateral action to override the treaty.

“This is not the best way to fix, this is rather a way maybe to nix. So if we want to fix it, which is what we want and I understand this is what the government wants as well, we need to create a better atmosphere.”

He said there was “untapped potential” in the proposals set out by Maros Sefcovic in talks with the UK government, warning of retaliation if the UK instead chose to act unilaterally.

“There is still potential in the proposals that we’ve made, we would like to focus on that instead of going unilateral,” he said.

“Unilateral calls for unilateral. Action calls for reaction.

“And is that what we want, an escalation around Northern Ireland at this present point in time? I don’t think so.

“We were told that we should get a new mandate but I can tell you very clearly what the member states are telling us is very simple: You don’t need a mandate and even if you ask for one, you will not get it.”

He said there was a lack of trust between the two sides and little sign of a “happy ending” in the protocol saga.

“I’m worried by the low levels of trust that exist today between the EU and the UK, between our leaders, between all of us that are involved in this relationship,” he said.