The EU is once again suing the UK over the Northern Ireland Protocol. This is in addition to the legal action taken last month over the UK government’s rewriting of post-Brexit trade rules. Now they’ve decided to go for it again, this time for “failing to comply with the applicable customs requirements, supervision requirements and risk controls on the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain”. They’ve also released a statement:

“Despite repeated calls by the European Parliament, the 27 EU Member States and the European Commission to implement the Protocol, the UK government has failed to do so. In a spirit of constructive co-operation, the Commission refrained from launching certain infringement procedures for over a year to create the space to look for joint solutions with the UK. However, the UK’s unwillingness to engage in meaningful discussion since last February and the continued passage of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill through the UK Parliament go directly against this spirit.”

It’s not like Brussels has anything better to do, like – for instance – figuring out their gas rationing plan for the winter. The UK has two months to respond, although given the EU has 837 other pending infringement cases against its own member states (hat-tip: Tom Harwood), there’s not much cause for concern…