Northern Irish issue threatens EU-UK trade relations

Significance

The manner of the UK move is not only damaging for the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), but also has the potential to affect the wider EU-UK trading relationship.

Impacts

• Low levels of trust will make it difficult for the EU and UK teams to find practical solutions to the NIP’s implementation.
• A further deterioration in EU-UK relations over the NIP could threaten the ratification of the EU-UK trade deal in the European Parliament.
• The United Kingdom’s threats to break international law threaten to damage its credibility among foreign and international actors.