EU won’t accept UK’s red line

THE EU will not accept London’s demands for an alternative arbitrator to settle post-Brexit disputes involving Northern Ireland, Dublin said yesterday after the EU offered other concessions.

The EU proposed a host of proposals on Wednesday, including reduced customs checks and paperwork on British products intended for Northern Ireland, in a bid to solve problems caused by the Brexit deal last year.

But there was no movement on what Britain says is one of its red lines: the role of the EU’s European Court of Justice (ECJ) as arbiter in any postBrexit disputes involving the province.

“There should not be a role for the ECJ in any part of the UK, including Northern Ireland,” British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said yesterday.

But when asked by Britain’s Times Radio if the EU would consider an alternative arbitration system, Ireland’s European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne said: “No … the ECJ arbitrates on the single market of the EU, in which Northern Ireland has been allowed to remain.”