DUBLIN (Reuters) – Britain has asked for more time to respond to legal action taken by the European Union over its unilateral decision to ease requirements of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ireland’s RTE television reported on Wednesday.
The European Union launched legal action against Britain last month for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland that Brussels says breach the Brexit divorce deal agreed with London last year.
Brussels gave London, which has said it has not violated the agreement, a month to respond to the legal action, but the British government has requested an extension of one month, RTE reported.
“The request came in two letters from the UK’s chief Brexit minister David Frost,” RTE correspondent Tony Connelly said in a Twitter post. The EU declined immediate comment.
The British government is due to host Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in London and its EU negotiator David Frost will travel to Brussels on Thursday for talks designed to ease differences over trade and Northern Ireland, the scene of more than a week of riots.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Kate Holton/Guy Faulconbridge)
