Northern Ireland Protocol: European Court of Justice fine of £15m for UK demonstrates risk under Protocol warns TUV leader Jim Allister

ECJ Advocate General Anthony Collins has recommended the UK be fined £15 million to “punish” it for failing to comply with EU rules against duty free fuel in pleasure boats, dating back to 2018.

The development is significant in light of the current negotiations on the NI Protocol, which keeps Northern Ireland under European law in the EU Customs Union.

TUV leader Jim Allister argues that the £15 million fine is a clear example of what the UK will potentially be exposed to in future if it breaches the NI Protocol.

The NI Protocol was agreed by the EU and UK to avoid EU customs checks on the Irish border after Brexit. Instead it placed them at Northern Ireland ports, keeping the Province within the EU customs union and creating a customs border with GB.

All unionist parties strongly contest the arrangement and the DUP has withdrawn from Stormont in protest, thus collapsing the power sharing Executive.

The development over the ECJ opinion comes at a sensitive time, as talks progress between the EU and UK in trying to come to a resolution on the Protocol.

The significance of the case was highlighted by the Irish Times, which reported that the UK faces severe fines in future if EU rules are breached in NI.

And it pointed out that the influential but non-binding opinion by the ECJ Advocate General - Irish judge Anthony Collins - argues strongly for substantial fines in order to “deter” Britain from any future breaches of EU law.

His legal opinion, published in December, stated: "The parties agree that the United Kingdom has assumed obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement of which the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is a part."

Referring to the EU directive on fuel markers and this particular case, he added: "The objective of imposing a lump sum payment is to punish past failure to comply and to deter future non-compliance."

A final ruling on the recommended £15 million fine is expected by the summer.

A spokeswoman for the UK Foreign Office said it was a "legacy" case which relates to markers used in fuel on private boats and dates back to when the UK was still in the EU.

"It is not related to the processes under the Northern Ireland Protocol," she added. “We await the final decision of the court.”

But TUV leader Jim Allister, argued that despite the case not relating directly to the Protocol, it still demonstrates that the UK could face major EU fines in the future if they breach it.

"Whether it is a ‘legacy case’ or not, this illustrates the type of continuing exposure the UK has to EU enforcement and courts in the event of breaches of EU law applied to Northern Ireland by the Protocol," he said.

DUP MP Carla Lockhart said that the fine would be “a heavy-handed approach by Brussels similar to trying to block vaccines to Northern Ireland and suing the UK for unilaterally extending grace periods”.

However Alliance MP Stephen Farry said the current EU-UK talks “should overtake” the need for any future fines – or the UK's unilateral Protocol Bill.