EU says Britain has "seriously damaged trust" with planned law

Britain would be committing "an extremely serious violation" of its agreement on withdrawal from the EU if it went ahead with proposed legislation, the European Commission said on Wednesday. The UK's legislative proposal has "seriously damaged trust" between Brussels and London and London must now take steps to re-establish trust, the European Union's executive said in a statement after a crisis meeting in London.

Britain would be committing "an extremely serious violation" of its agreement on withdrawal from the EU if it went ahead with proposed legislation, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The UK's legislative proposal has "seriously damaged trust" between Brussels and London and London must now take steps to re-establish trust, the European Union's executive said in a statement after a crisis meeting in London. "Vice-President Maroš 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," the Commission said in a statement.

The Commission said it did not accept Britain's argument that the aim of the draft bill was to protect the Good Friday Agreement securing the peace process on the island of Ireland. "In fact, it is of the view that it does the opposite," the Commission said.

"The Withdrawal Agreement contains a number of mechanisms and legal remedies to address violations of the legal obligations contained in the text – which the European Union will not be shy in using," it said.