EU launches legal action against UK over post-Brexit changes

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is launching legal action against the U.K. in response to unilateral moves to rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the post-Brexit deal between both sides. The proposed U.K. bill seeks to remove customs checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. That will override parts of the trade treaty that Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed with the EU less than two years ago. The EU believes that the UK’s unilateral decision is violating international law. The so-called Northern Ireland Protocol is the part of the Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods. The European Commission announced on Wednesday it was taking legal action.