Senior U.K. and European Union officials are meeting as part of what Britain calls “intensive negotiations” to resolve a thorny post-Brexit trade dispute that has spawned a political crisis.

Britain’s foreign secretary has warned the European Union that the U.K. will have “no choice but to act” to revoke parts of a Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland if the EU doesn't show flexibility.

Top negotiators from Britain and the European Union are meeting in hopes of resolving their a thorny dispute over Northern Ireland trade.

The United Kingdom has rejected European Union proposals to streamline the trade of goods in Northern Ireland as insufficient.

The great Brexit brawl is heading into its next standoff as European Union concessions to improve trade in Northern Ireland are likely to be deemed insufficient by the United Kingdom.

The U.K.’s chief negotiator called on the European Union to show “pragmatism and common sense,” instead of threatening to retaliate, as the two sides meet to resolve differences over the deal that was supposed to keep trade flowing after Brexit.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, file)The divorce between the U.K. and the EU is turning nastier by the day. AdOn March 3 the U.K. decided to unilaterally extend a grace period until October on checks for goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland. “They are lawful and part of a progressive and good faith implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol," the spokesperson said in a statement. AdThe U.K. government said that it saw challenges that businesses like supermarkets faced in Northern Ireland in the first weeks of the year. Only last week, the leaders of the EU and the U.K. went head-to-head in an angry exchange over vaccine exports.

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic speaks during a media conference, after a General Affairs Council meeting, at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič said in a statement that UK's decision to unilaterally extend a grace period on checks for goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland amounts to “a violation" of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol. The Protocol was designed to ensure an open border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit. The sensitivity of Northern Ireland’s status was underscored earlier this year when the EU threatened to ban shipments of coronavirus vaccines to Northern Ireland as part of moves to shore up the bloc’s supply. Šefčovič held discussions Wednesday with cabinet minister David Frost, the former chief Brexit negotiator now responsible for EU relations.

The turbulence centers on Northern Ireland, whose complex status has been one of the trickiest issues in the U.K.-EU divorce. Checks have also been imposed on some British goods going to Northern Ireland because it shares a border with EU member-state Ireland. That would have drawn a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland -- exactly what the Brexit trade deal was crafted to avoid. AdThe EU quickly dropped the idea after British, Irish and Northern Ireland politicians expressed alarm. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman, Jamie Davies, said the bloc’s move had caused “shock and anger” in Northern Ireland.

A woman walks past past graffiti with the words 'No Irish Sea Border' in Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. Politicians from Britain, Northern Ireland and the European Union are meeting to defuse post-Brexit trade tensions that have shaken Northern Irelands delicate political balance. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)LONDON – Senior politicians from Britain, Northern Ireland and the European Union held inconclusive talks Wednesday in a bid to ease post-Brexit trade tensions that have shaken Northern Ireland’s delicate political balance. The border checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. are a contentious product of Brexit. British, Irish and Northern Ireland politicians all expressed alarm at the plan, and the EU dropped the idea.

(Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)The European Union sought Monday to ease concerns that citizens might be obliged to get shots against the coronavirus before they’re allowed to travel, as debate swirls over the use of vaccination certificates to help reopen tourism across the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission has been weighing a Greek proposal to issue vaccination certificates to help get travelers to their vacation destinations more quickly and avoid another disastrous summer for Europe’s tourism sector. Greece plans to issue digital vaccination certificates to each person inoculated against COVID-19. EU heads of state and government are due to discuss the proposal at a video-summit on Thursday. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic insisted that “vaccination is voluntary.” He noted that some people cannot be inoculated for health reasons while others might simply object.

This would be very bad news for everyone, for the EU and even more so for the United Kingdom." Speaking after a meeting of EU ministers that he chaired, Roth added that “it's now up to the U.K. to make the decisive steps." He said U.K. negotiator David Frost would brief the prime minister before EU leaders meet about whether recent intensive talks have made a deal possible. Johnson says the EU must shift its position if it wants a deal, and insists the U.K. is quite prepared to walk away without one. France warned, that could cost the U.K. the unfettered access it wants to the huge and wealthy continental market.

A top European Union official dealing with the United Kingdom said Tuesday that a cliff-edge rupture between the two without even a basic trade deal by the end of the year is becoming more likely by the day. Sefcovic said it made Britain less trustworthy and called the plans "a heavy blow to the British signature and reliability. He said the plans left the EU with no choice but to launch legal action against Britain. Sefcovic said the EU would never change anything to the Brexit divorce deal. The EU is concerned that British plans to subsidize sectors such as technology will amount to unfair competition.

At center on screen is EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier joining by videoconference. After a short meeting between the two sides in Brussels, U.K. Brexit planning minister Michael Gove said Britain wouldn't withdraw its Internal Market Bill, which includes clauses to override parts of the Brexit withdrawal treaty. “Those clauses will remain in that bill” as a safety net in case the U.K. and the EU don't reach a trade agreement, Gove said. The rift means that talks between the two sides' trade negotiators will begin Tuesday under an ominous cloud. Sefcovic warned Monday that Britain shouldn't try to use the withdrawal agreement and its Northern Ireland provisions as “a bargaining chip” in trade negotiations.

(Aris Oikonomou, Pool via AP)BRUSSELS – The European Union is pleading with Britain to stop playing “games" as time is running out to clinch a free trade deal over the next month. A transition period now runs until Dec 31, during which time both sides are negotiating a trade agreement to replace the open and unfettered economic relations that are currently in place. The EU has repeatedly expressed its exasperation at what it sees as British stubbornness and refusal to compromise on some key points. The EU has not explicitly said what action it would take but EU Vice President Maros Sefcovic indicated it would stay within the rules of dispute settlement set out in the withdrawal agreement. “I would like to underscore that the EU believes in calm, constructive cooperation through the channels created by the withdrawal agreement," Sefcovic said.

The British government said Friday it will delay bringing in full border checks on goods coming from the European Union to relieve pressure on businesses hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. After that, British firms trading with the EU will face customs checks, border inspections and unless there is a free trade deal tariffs. But on Friday the government said border checks would be introduced in stages. The U.K. says it will build new customs and border facilities for all the checks a process that has been set back by the pandemic. Asked about the border checks, Sefcovic said the EU is determined to protect its single market, customs union and financial interests.