Brussels to launch protocol legal action within days

The move by an increasingly furious European Commission could happen as early as this week

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic was suggested to be close to convincing member states to agree to much of what Britain had been seeking

The European Commission could launch legal proceedings against Britain as early as this week for breaching the Northern Ireland Protocol, amid fury in Brussels at Britain’s unilateral breach of its terms.

Sources say the Irish government and European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic had been close to convincing member states to agree to much of what Britain had been seeking, only to be left astonished when London announced it alone.

Boris Johnson‘s Conservative government announced last ...