PARIS, 15 June, 2021 (TON): On Monday, the French Minister of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune warned that Britain will face “retaliatory measures” if it refuses to respect engagements made regarding the Brexit deal.

He told the media, “(British Prime Minister) Boris Johnson thinks that you can sign deals with the Europeans, not respect them and Europe will not react. It is a test for Europe.”

“I am telling the British people that commitments must be respected and if not, we will take trade retaliatory measures,” said Beaune.

When asked about the differences on the Northern Ireland Protocol, he said, “We exclude nothing we have enough to defend our interests, and we will do.”

Under the 1 January, 2021 Protocol, food products from Britain to the EU will have to enter through new border control posts at Northern Ireland’s ports.

Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, will continue to apply EU customs rules at its ports, to allow goods to flow into the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, and the rest of the EU bloc.

Such an arrangement led to the so-called Irish Sea border, an informal term for the new trade border between Northern Ireland and the other parts of Britain.

The British government has threatened to unilaterally extend again the customs “grace period,” which was set to end on 30 June, to October on Irish Sea border checks, over which the EU has vowed retaliation.