31st January 2020. EU Council staff members arrive to remove the United Kingdom's flag from the European Council building in Brussels on Brexit Day Shutterstock

31st January 2020. EU Council staff members arrive to remove the United Kingdom's flag from the European Council building in Brussels on Brexit Day Shutterstock

The body issued a letter of formal notice on Thursday, giving the UK government one month to reply.

It comes after the UK government tabled the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill on 9 September. If adopted, the law would flagrantly violate the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, by allowing the UK authorities to disregard the legal effect of the Protocol's substantive provisions under the Withdrawal Agreement.

According to a commission statement:

“Representatives of the UK government have acknowledged this violation, stating that its purpose was to allow it to depart in a permanent way from the obligations stemming from the Protocol. The UK government has failed to withdraw the contentious parts of the Bill, despite requests by the European Union.

“By doing so, the UK has breached its obligation to act in good faith, as set out in Article 5 of the Withdrawal Agreement. Furthermore, it has launched a process, which – if the Bill is adopted – would impede the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.”

If the UK submits no observations to the commission, the commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Contentious measures

The Withdrawal Agreement was ratified by both the EU and the UK. It entered into force on 1 February 2020 and has legal effects under international law.

Following the publication by the UK government of the draft ‘United Kingdom Internal Market Bill' on 9 September 2020, commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič called for an extraordinary meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee to request the UK government to elaborate on its intentions and to respond to the EU's serious concerns. The meeting took place in London on 10 September between Michael Gove, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Šefčovič.

At the meeting, Šefčovič stated that if the bill were to be adopted, it would constitute an extremely serious violation of the Withdrawal Agreement and of international law. He called on the UK government to withdraw these measures from the draft bill in the shortest time possible and in any case by the end of the month of September.

At the third ordinary meeting of the Joint Committee on 28 September 2020, Šefčovič again called on the UK government to withdraw the contentious measures from the bill. The UK government on this occasion confirmed its intention to go ahead with the draft legislation.

The Withdrawal Agreement provides that during the transition period, the Court of Justice of the European Union has jurisdiction and the commission has the powers conferred upon it by Union law in relation to the United Kingdom, also as regards the interpretation and application of that agreement.