UK says EU's proposals will not solve post-Brexit problems

Britain said it was disappointing the European Union had chosen to relaunch legal proceedings against it on Wednesday, saying the proposals set out by the bloc would not solve the problems with post-Brexit rules governing Northern Irish trade.

"It is disappointing that the EU has chosen to relaunch legal proceedings relating to the grace periods currently in place," a British government spokesperson said in a statement after the EU launched two new legal proceedings.

"The proposals set out by the EU today are the same proposals we have been discussing for months and would not solve the problems – in many cases they take us backwards from current arrangements."