The European Commission yesterday launched legal action against the U.K. after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government tabled a bill that would undo major agreements the U.K. committed to as part of the Brexit divorce deal it signed with the European Union. The latest escalation in the dispute between London and Brussels could lead to a full cancelation of the EU-U.K. free trade deal, opening the door to the dreaded “no-deal Brexit” that the trade agreement was intended to avoid. The EU’s legal challenge comes in response to unilateral moves by the U.K to rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland protocol in the post-Brexit deal signed by the two sides. The protocol was a compromise to the dilemma presented by the particular form of “hard Brexit” favored by hardline lawmakers in Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party after the outcome of the 2016 Brexit referendum. Those lawmakers wanted to leave not only the EU’s political structure, but the European single market and customs union as well—shunning models adopted by EU nonmember neighbors like Norway and Turkey.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 16, 2022 23:45 UTC