UK's Frost tells EU: It takes two to fix relationship

Record ID: 1641155

  • Title: UK's Frost tells EU: It takes two to fix relationship
  • Date: 12th October 2021
  • Summary: NEWRY, NORTHERN IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 31, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ANTI-BREXIT AND PRO-IRISH UNITY SIGNS
  • Embargoed: 26th October 2021 16:36
  • Keywords: Brexit British Brexit negotiator David Frost EU-UK Lord Frost post-Brexit
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA008EYUTGSN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:It takes two to fix the relationship between Britain and the European Union following the country's departure from the bloc, British Brexit minister David Frost said on Tuesday (October 12), amid tensions over trade rules governing Northern Ireland.
    In a speech to the diplomatic community in Lisbon, Frost said the EU and Britain had got into a "fractious relationship" but frosty relations could be eased.
    The speech, which was part explanation of Britain's 2016 vote to leave the EU and part accusation that Brussels was all but purposefully trying to further complicate relations, Frost again appealed for resolution to a problem that has run for months.
    The Northern Irish protocol, which governs post-Brexit trade in the province, must change, he said.
    Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed up to the so-called Northern Ireland protocol as part of his Brexit agreement in 2020, but has since argued it was agreed in haste and was no longer working for the people of Northern Ireland.
    Frost has for months called on the EU to allow some changes to the protocol to ease trade in some goods between Britain and Northern Ireland, but on Tuesday he stepped up the pressure, trying to both coax and threaten Brussels to offer that on Wednesday (October 13) .
    Frost said Britain expected to received the EU's proposals on Wednesday and is hoping for two to three weeks of intensive talks with the EU.
    The proposals are a response to what Britain presented in July, which outlined London's desire to rework parts of the protocol governing trade and the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
    (Production: Lucy Marks)
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