NI Protocol talks should move into 'discreet' phase
A senior EU official has said the talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol should move into a "discreet" phase during the upcoming Assembly Elections campaign, but warned that the EU would have to "rethink" the process if the talks were no longer "meaningful".
The official said some progress had been made on reducing the number of customs formalities on goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland but there remain significant gaps when it came to agrifood checks.
Technical talks have been going on between both sides since last autumn after the UK published its Command Paper, seeking sweeping changes to the Protocol, and the EU responded with its own proposals.
During the talks, the checks and controls on consignments moving GB-NI have been scaled back due to the UK's unilateral "stand still" approach.
https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2022/0221/1282149-ni-protocol/