Sefcovic: We can solve Brexit sausage ban if UK gets on board

That's the message from European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic in a session with Stormont Assembly members today.

There've been problems relating to the protocol since the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. It's also been the focus of concern for unionists who fear it'll weaken Northern Ireland's ties with the rest of the UK.

From Thursday, the sale of chilled meat products in from the rest of the UK could be banned in Northern Ireland as a result of the agreement, which creates an Irish Sea border on goods in order to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK to remain within the European single market for goods. 

But the EU does not normally allow the importation of mince, sausages and other chilled meat items from non-member states, meaning some Scottish produce may be off the menu in NI unless a solution can be found.

READ MORE: John Curtice: What the UK public really thinks of Brexit

Today Sefcovic told MLA's he's "confident" this could happen within the next 48 hours.

And he raised concerns over "negative rhetoric" about the protocol, adding: "Let's not forget, this is the impact of Brexit and the choices made by the UK Government, not of the protocol nor the European Union."

Giving evidence remotely to a special sitting of the Assembly's Executive Office committee, Sefcovic said the EU was prepared to accommodate flexibilities to reduce Irish Sea trade checks to the "absolute minimum possible".

However, he said the UK had to reciprocate by demonstrating a commitment to the "full and faithful" implementation of the protocol.

He stated: "We are willing to consider taking bold steps if the UK Government demonstrates a clear and concrete commitment to implementing the protocol in full."

The bloc has indicated it's willing to grant a UK request for the extension of a temporary grace period for a further three months as a long-term answer is sought.

READ MORE: Who is Maros Sefcovic? Inside look at EU's Brexit negotiator

Sefcovic said a Swiss-style deal on agri-food shipments from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would do away with the "vast majority" of new checks.

That deal avoids animal and plant health checks because the Swiss align their own regulations with the bloc's. When the EU changes its rules, the Swiss change theirs to ensure continued alignment.

Sefcovic said that "could be negotiated very quickly" and that a New Zealand-style arrangement, which would require mutual recognition of food safety standards, would mean more checks remain in place.

Sefcovic said: "I know that the UK Government doesn't want to have its hands tied because there might be a big free trade agreement coming with important partners like the United States of America, but we know that such agreements take time to negotiate, very often several years."

He went on: "We would use the time for bridging over the current situation. I hope we can build up the infrastructure, we can hire and train personnel, we can get the real time access to the IT system so the checks can be performed more smoothly, faster and they will be not intrusive at all to the people of Northern Ireland.

"That's the position we presented to our UK partners, I hope that jointly we can solve the issue of the chilled meat within 48 hours. We will have three months to have another try how to solve this issue.

"We are approaching this with open minds and we have a ready made recipe how we can sort it out, at least 80% of the checks and controls which are otherwise required."

Downing Street would not guarantee that sausages would continue to be shipped across the Irish Sea from Great Britain to Northern Ireland after the end of June.

"We have asked for a three-month extension to allow movements to continue while we seek a permanent solution," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

Talks are continuing with the European Union about an extension to the grace period on the movement of chilled meats after Wednesday's deadline.

Asked whether all options remained on the table — code for the UK's threat to take unilateral action to breach the rules — the spokesman said: "We have further time now to discuss with our EU partners and that is what we will be doing."

Sefcovic said the protocol emerged from the long Brexit withdrawal negotiations as the "only possible solution" to keep the Irish land border free flowing, adding: "Nobody has yet suggested a better workable alternative.

READ MORE: Five years of Brexit: The Scottish voters who are still be-Leavers

"The protocol needs to be fully and correctly implemented, and at the same time our approach has been, and still is, solution-oriented, constructive and flexible.

"The protocol is a unique solution that the EU has never offered before. We are outsourcing the control of part of our border to a third country.

"The EU has demonstrated the pragmatism we are occasionally and wrongly accused of lacking. We have spared no efforts in trying to mitigate problems that have arisen in the implementation of the protocol and have explored and put on the table practical and permanent solutions."

When asked about allying the concerns of unionists in Northern Ireland around the protocol, Sefcovic said the EU has demonstrated through the peace programme that "we are your friend".

He stated: "For us peace and stability, no hard border are absolutely fundamental principles which should respected throughout the negotiations and which are paramount for us also today.

"If it comes to the issue of democratic deficit, our negotiating partner is the UK and we have to respect that because we are respecting the constitutional arrangement of the UK, but I am now talking to you, I am ready to be your partner, I am ready to engage with you when you feel this would be appropriate."

READ MORE: Brexit: Tory ministers 'hostile to Scotland', Michael Russell says

Referring to the controversy in January over the EU threat to suspend elements of the protocol in a row over Covid-19 vaccine exports, Sefcovic said that had been a "genuine mistake" and should not place into question the EU's commitment to the full implementation of the protocol.

Sefcovic also described the negotiations around the Northern Ireland Protocol as the "hardest part of all the discussions and negotiations we had with the UK": "What we have been trying to do was to square the circle.

"The result of it was from my perspective I would say an unparalleled leap of trust, confidence and enormous effort to make things work because you cannot find it anywhere else in the world that we actually ask the UK authorities, in this case Northern Irish authorities, to perform the checks on goods coming to Northern Ireland."