Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress the Government has made on negotiating a settlement on the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU; and what recent assessment the Government has made of the need of using article 16 of that protocol.

The Foreign Secretary and European Commission Vice-President Šefčovič held their first face-to-face meeting at Chevening on 13-14 January. They agreed that officials would meet this week (w/c 17 January) in intensified talks and that they will meet again on 24 January to assess progress.

The UK's preference remains for a negotiated solution but if this is not possible, we remain ready to use the safeguard measures (Article 16) in order to preserve stability in Northern Ireland and protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.