The European Commission released the statement following the extraordinary meeting of its Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič with Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, which took place today in London.

• Vice-President stated, in no uncertain terms, that the timely and full implementation of Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is a legal obligation; EU expects the letter and spirit of this Agreement to be fully respected
• Violating the terms of Withdrawal Agreement would break international law, undermine trust and put at risk the ongoing future relationship negotiations
• Neither EU nor UK can unilaterally change, clarify, amend, interpret, disregard or disapply the agreement
• Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is essential part of Withdrawal Agreement, aiming to protect peace and stability on the island of Ireland
• Šefčovič stated that if the Bill were to be adopted, it would constitute an extremely serious violation of the Withdrawal Agreement and of international law
• If adopted as proposed, the draft bill would be in clear breach of substantive provisions of the Protocol: Article 5 (3) & (4) and Article 10 on custom legislation and State aid, including amongst other things, the direct effect of the Withdrawal Agreement (Article 4); in addition, the UK government would be in violation of the good faith obligation under the Withdrawal Agreement (Article 5) as the draft Bill jeopardises the attainment of the objectives of the Agreement
• EU does not accept the argument that aim of the draft Bill is to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement
• Vice-President called on UK government to withdraw these measures from the draft Bill in the shortest time possible and in any case by the end of the month; stated that by putting forward this Bill, the UK has seriously damaged trust between the EU and the UK