The European Union criticized on Thursday Northern Ireland's decision to stop checks on food and agricultural goods coming from Great Britain. The European Commission called the move "unhelpful," adding it "creates further uncertainly and unpredictability for businesses and citizens in Northern Ireland."
The EU warned that the controls on goods arriving in Northern Ireland are "a key element" of the Northern Ireland Protocol, put into place after the UK left the union. "They are necessary for Northern Irish business and citizens to continue to benefit from access to the EU single market for goods. They are also necessary to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland," the bloc argued. The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic will talk to his UK counterpart Liz Truss later in the day as the two sides look for solutions to outstanding Brexit issues.
