'Bloody hell' - Europe state minister loses patience with London

'Bloody hell' - Europe state minister loses patience with London AFP - Yesterday at 12:14 In view of the stalled negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Berlin is gradually losing patience with London: Europe Minister of State Michael Roth (SPD) appealed to the British government in Brussels on Tuesday to "come to its senses." "We want to work together in partnership and friendship, dammit," he said on the sidelines of consultations with his EU colleagues in language unusual for diplomats. Roth accused London of failing to honor agreements reached about a year ago under the Northern Ireland Protocol. "Surely this should not be so difficult," he added. The EU Commission had most recently proposed to London a roughly 80 percent easing of customs checks that the U.K. has been required to carry out on shipments of goods to Northern Ireland since Brexit. In this way, the EU wants to ensure that European standards are not undermined. This is because de facto Northern Ireland, with its open border with EU member Ireland, continues to belong to the European single market despite the British exit. However, London has so far not carried out many of the agreed customs checks at all, citing supply problems with food and medicines in Northern Ireland as the reason. According to EU diplomats, there has been little progress in the negotiations so far. A new round of talks is planned for this Friday in London. If there is no agreement in the dispute, EU diplomats say there is a threat of a trade war - possibly before Christmas. Another topic of discussion among EU European ministers was the rule of law. Alluding to the disputes with Poland and Hungary, Roth said there should be "no discounts." Both countries had received warning letters from Brussels last week. They face cuts in EU funds because of the violations. lob/ju