The European Commission through its spokesperson announced that four new infringement procedures against the UK over Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol were launched.

The infringement procedures relate in particular to the non-compliance with customs obligations and the control of goods going from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

"We have refrained from launching new infringement procedures for over a year to create the space to look for joint solutions with the UK. However, the UK's unwillingness to engage in a meaningful manner in discussions since last February and the continued passage of the Northern Ireland bill protocol through the UK parliament directly against the spirit of cooperation I was mentioning, it is in this context that we have also launched the new infringements for non-compliance with significant parts of the protocol," said Arianna Podesta, Coordinating Spokesperson for economic affairs of European Commission during a presser in Brussels on Friday.

Three previous actions against the UK were launched by the European Commission related to the non-compliance with certification requirements for the circulation of food products, obligations in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary controls and not communicating to the EU the statistical data on trade regarding Northern Ireland.

The UK has two months to respond to the Commission's letters and take action to comply with the protocol but has yet to respond to EU demands.