Jeffrey Donaldson

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has reiterated his belief that " conditions have been met to trigger Article 16".

Article 16 is part of the, the Brexit trade deal aimed at avoiding a hard Irish border.

It allows unilateral action by the UK or the EU if the protocol causes serious problems or diverts trade.

Sir Jeffrey has called for " decisive action" by the UK ahead of a meeting with Brexit Minister Lord Frost later.

The DUP leader said Northern Ireland was being harmed " on a daily basis" because of the trading arrangements in the protocol, adding that triggering Article 16 was the " right thing to do".

His remarks come after a weekend of high-profile criticism of the UK government's position on the protocol from both within the EU and the UK.

The protocol keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, unlike the rest of the UK, and led to new checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain .

Supporters argue it has created new opportunities for Northern Ireland businesses, but opponents say it undermines The Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and disrupts supply chains.

The was negotiated between the EU and The British government in late 2019, but the UK government now wants significant reform of the agreement.

Brexit Minister Lord Frost, who helped to negotiate the protocol in 2019, argues The Arrangement is now harming The Peace process in Northern Ireland .

Last month, the, which it said would cut The Number of spot checks on goods by about 80%.

It also offered to change to current laws to ensure no disruption to moving medicines across the Irish Sea .

However, the UK said more fundamental change was still required, including removing the European Court of Justice from an oversight role.

The if its demands over the Northern Ireland Protocol are not met.

Article 16 exists to fix difficulties with the Northern Ireland Protocol that are causing serious problems or causing diversion of trade.

The UK government says that threshold was reached long ago and so it can be used legitimately.

But the EU fears the UK is planning to use Article 16 in an expansive Way - to gut the protocol, sweep away the Irish Sea border and open up a potential Back Door into the single market.

The EU may argue that the broader Brexit trade deal only happened because the issue of the Irish border had been sorted out first.

Therefore if the UK collapses that border solution the EU may give notice that it intends to collapse The Trade deal.

Last week Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Vincent Van Peteghem suggested that is figuring in the EU's thinking and.

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Sir Jeffrey said it was time for the The British government to take decisive action.

" The EU came to The Table , they put proposals on The Table , and being a fair-minded person I felt that we should allow more time to explore those proposals to see if the EU were prepared to Go Further , but at The Moment they haven't, " Sir Jeffrey told The Bbc 's Good Morning Ulster programme on Monday.

" What they have proposed is not nearly adequate enough in terms of addressing the difficulties caused by the protocol, so in those circumstances, yes, the government should trigger Article 16 if agreement cannot be reached with the European Union on a solution that is agreeable to both sides. "

At the weekend, former British Prime Minister Sir John Major was among those who criticised the UK government's stance on the protocol, and said.

European Commission (EC) Vice-President and Irish Foreign Minister in response.

In a weekend statement, the UK government said that it had been " consistently clear" that it would prefer to " settle the issues arising from the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol consensually and reach a positive outcome through negotiations".

However, it said it was its responsibility " to safeguard peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland , and we will use Article 16 if necessary".

Source of news: bbc.com