The EU says it will start legal action with the UK over Brexit

The EU claims the PM is breaching the “good faith” promise both sides signed up to in the withdrawal agreement

The EU Commission is set to start legal action against Boris Johnson’s bid to potentially override parts of the Brexit agreement.

Brussels has claimed that the prime minister is breaching the “good faith” promise that was made by both sides when they signed up to the withdrawal agreement, which was announced in and passed by the British parliament last year.

Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission president has said that given Boris Johnson had “failed” to heed her warning, “infringement proceedings” were in the process of being launched.

This comes after a minister has suggested that tighter social restrictions could potentially be imposed if COVID-19 infections in the UK continue to rise. Helen Whately blames restrictions on household mixing as a newspaper says a government source claims the action “will have to come”.

Downing Street now has until the end of October to respond, with a spokesperson for the government saying that a reply will be sent to the EU “in due course”.

The UK left the EU on the 31st of January but is in a transitionary period meaning they the country is still following many of the same rules as other EU countries, and will continue to do so, until the end of 2020.

Discussions are currently ongoing in regards to the future of the relationship between the UK and the EU, but if no breakthrough is reached by mid-October, then the prospect of a no-deal Brexit will rear its head yet again.

Mr Johnson provoked the fury of former Conservative prime minister Theresa May and other backbenchers with a controversial plan for what should happen in that scenario.

He is pushing through legislation that would, by the government’s own admission, break international law, called the Internal Market Bill.

It will let ministers hand themselves the power to determine rules on state aid and goods travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Despite a small Tory rebellion, the bill passed the Commons with ease earlier this week and will go on to face debates and votes in the House of Lords.

A government spokesperson has since defended the bill in light of the legal threat from the European Union.

“We need to create a legal safety net to protect the integrity of the UK’s internal market, ensure ministers can always deliver on their obligations to Northern Ireland and protect the gains from the peace process,” they said.

This comes after the EU has said that it has “serious concerns” about the UK’s move to override key parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement deal as Maros Sefcovic, an EU official, was speaking ahead of the emergency talks with Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, on how the changes could potentially affect Northern Ireland.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, tweeted: “Full and effective implementation of withdrawal agreement will always be an absolute priority for the EU.”

“It is the result of long EU-UK negotiations and the only way to protect Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, guaranteeing peace and stability on island of Ireland.”