The EU has begun legal proceedings against the UK after it refused to ditch plans to override sections of its Brexit divorce deal.
Brussels had given Downing Street until the end of September to scrap the controversial proposals in the UK Internal Market Bill which expired on Wednesday.
Their demands were rejected with the legislation being cleared in the House of Commons on Tuesday as it makes its way through parliament.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday said it had sent a letter of formal notice to the U.K. over its plan to override the Brexit divorce deal.
The “letter of formal notice” could eventually lead to a court case against the UK at the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court.
Ursula von der Leyen said the UK would have until the end of November to respond to the EU’s concerns over the draft.
UK-EU trade talks are continuing in Brussels this week. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said both sides should “move on” if a deal was not reached by mid-October.
In a brief statement, the EU commissioner said the bill was a “full contradiction” of previous UK commitments over how a hard border on the island of Ireland should be avoided.
She added that the bill was by its “very nature a breach of the obligation of good faith” contained in the withdrawal deal that took the UK out of the EU in January.
A spokesperson for the UK Government said the bill was a necessary “safety net” to protect trade between different parts of the UK.
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