THE EU’s top Brexit negotiator warned that any move by the United Kingdom to scrap the protocol governing commerce with Northern Ireland would endanger the broader trade agreement between Brussels and London.

Britain has repeatedly threatened to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, which allows either side to introduce safeguard measures in case of “economic, societal or environmental difficulties.”

Maros Sefcovic, the EU negotiator, said Monday that any such move would call into question the EU-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which was painstakingly hammered out and signed Dec. 30, 2020 to allow tariff-free commerce.

Invoking Article 16 “would also have serious consequences for our relationship with the United Kingdom,” Sefcovic said.

He said that the protocol and the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement had been the EU’s preconditions for entering trade talks with the United Kingdom.

Some member states are pushing for the EU to consider terminating all or parts of the trade agreement if the United Kingdom invokes Article 16. That would allow the bloc to impose duties on British goods as soon as nine months after giving notification.(SD-Agencies)