As predicted, the EU is not at all keen to poison the UK-EU trade deal, now it’s becoming clear that HMG isn’t going to implement it as written or back down in the face of legal threats.
It has used the UK’s latest proposals as an excuse to “pause” the legal proceedings it commenced in March. It is now creating diplomatic wriggle-room for itself, indicating it is prepared to consider solutions that respect the “principle” of the deal, even while it loudly protests that it won’t renegotiate. Of course, a renegotiation was never really necessary, had the EU been prepared to countenance a measure of trust, good faith and common sense, instead of trying to use the blood of every victim of the Troubles to force the UK to capitulate.
I suspect the EU Commission has been instructed to wind its corporate neck in by one or more well-placed sources inside some of the principal member state governments. And I predict that once heads have cooled, we might be surprised just how much the EU decides actually remains within the spirit of good relations upon which the legal text is predicated.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57986307