Gove-NI Processes Should Be As 'Light Touch' As Poss. Ahead Of EU Meeting

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has stated in the House of Commons that any processes in relation to customs checks or other trade arrangements in Northern Ireland should be 'as light touch as possible'.

• The comments come ahead of the first in-person meeting of Gove and European Commission VP Maros Sefcovic, the two most senior members of the Joint Committee under the Withdrawal Agreement, since the debacle in late-Jan on the invocation of Art.16 of the Northern Ireland protocol by the EU.
• Sefcovic due to meet with Gove this evening in London and remain until tomorrow morning.
• Since the Art.16 incident - which came at the behest of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the EU scrambled to stop COVID-19 vaccine exports to the UK but in doing so briefly created a hard border on the island of Ireland - the UK has sought to rework some other aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol. Primarily, the UK has sought to extend the 'grace period' for some GB exports to NI to end-2023 to avoid the current customs check issues impeding trade.
• UK gov't also keen to encourage EU to relax restrictions on exports of seafood from the UK to the EU, the hindrances to which have caused major blowback for the gov't.