EU unwilling to renegotiate Northern Ireland protocol

European Union leaders have stressed they are not seeking a “political victory” as they pushed back against UK demands that the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol be scrapped.

After a two-day trip to Northern Ireland, the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, repeated his warning that a renegotiation would lead to more instability for businesses and communities.

Just hours after the Democratic Unionist party had threatened to collapse the Stormont assembly with elections nine months earlier than scheduled, Šefčovič said he was “ready to explore all the flexibilities” being proposed but renegotiation was a non-starter.

Under the protocol, designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, Northern Ireland observes EU rules on goods coming in from Great Britain, requiring businesses to provide customs and other paperwork on goods crossing the Irish Sea.