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EU not fulfilling Brexit obligations on N.Ireland trade, says UK minister

Brexit negotiations continue in Brussels

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union does not seem to be fulfilling its obligation under the Brexit deal to minimise barriers in trade between Britain and its province of Northern Ireland, Britain's minister for ties with the EU said on Monday.

David Frost, the minister in charge of relations with the bloc, told a parliamentary committee: "We want to see a bit more flexibility in the way this arrangement is implemented. There is a provision in the Withdrawal Agreement ... which puts us both under an obligation to minimise as far as possible barriers to GB-Northern Ireland trade and I am not sure that obligation is being fully fulfilled."

"We need a sensible discussion about the genuine risk and the genuine problems that are produced by excessive process ... We haven't had that discussion yet unfortunately."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, writing by Elizabeth Piper. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)