Mr. Paolo Gentiloni:

I am respectful of and fascinated about the discussion the Deputy has mentioned but, as he will know, the EU is not entering this kind of discussion. What we are committed to - and I understand he discussed this with my colleague, Maroš Šefovi, a few days ago - is how we can make it possible that the implementation of what was agreed between the EU and the United Kingdom is done and that it does not create tensions and difficulties in Ireland, especially in Northern Ireland. From our point of view, the way to do that is to respect the decision and the achievement we have reached. That does not mean we are not ready to address and try to solve problems on the ground. I am aware of those problems, as I am also the Commissioner in charge of customs. I know that is a challenging issue. We have evidence of some problems and we have to work with flexibility to solve them. It would be a completely different thing to take those problems and say they show that we have to cancel what we agreed, in particular, the Northern Ireland protocol. We need stability. The people of Ireland and Northern Ireland need stability. In terms of trade and co-operation, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, TCA, is not a disaster. It works to a certain extent but it is only an initial phase. We will see after the new UK rules are in place what the situation will be. Overall, as Members of the Parliament and as Commissioners, our task is to solve the problems but not to undermine the agreements that were reached. From my point of view, that would be very dangerous.