The UK has formally requested a further three months to resolve the bitter Brexit row with Brussels over the sale of sausages in Northern Ireland.
It comes as the UK announces moves to guarantee voting rights for EU citizens in local elections.
The Brexit minister, Lord Frost, has written to the EU with an official request to extend the grace period to 30 September for the sale of sausages produced in Great Britain in Northern Ireland supermarkets.
Under the Brexit agreement signed off in December, the EU had allowed mandatory checks on fresh food to be phased in over six months. An outright ban on chilled meats, which the UK has called “bonkers”, was due to come into force at the end of this month.
Frost told a select committee earlier this week that an extension would create more “breathing space” in the escalating row that threatened to impinge on wider international relations, including those with the new US president, Joe Biden.
The EU confirmed it had received the request to extend the grace period and would consider it. A spokesperson said: “When looking for solutions, providing stability and predictability for the people of Northern Ireland will be of paramount importance.
It said the European commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič “will reach out to Lord Frost and his team to set up a meeting as soon as possible to discuss this request in detail. The commission will also consult the European parliament and the [European] council.”
In a separate development on Thursday, the government has revealed that EU citizens who come to the UK to live and work after Brexit will have the right to vote in local elections if reciprocal arrangements are agreed in the countries of their birth.
It has also confirmed that an estimated 5 million people already in the country for five years who have been granted settled status, and those in the country for fewer than five years with pre-settled status, will continue to have the right to vote and stand in local elections.
“EU citizens, who have arrived since 1 January 2021, will move to a position whereby future local voting and candidacy rights are granted where there is an agreement with individual European Union member states to preserve these on a bilateral basis,” said the Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith on Thursday in a written statement.
Reciprocal deals have already been struck with Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg and Poland, giving British nationals living in those countries the right to vote in their local elections.
Alberto Costa, the Conservative MP for South Leicestershire, who has been campaigning to protect EU voters’ rights for five years, said the government had gone further than campaigners like him had expected.
“Vote Leave promised EU citizens would retain the vote five years ago and they have kept their promise, so I’m very satisfied as they protect the rights of around 5 million people,” he said.
“It also shows that they are open to giving future EU migrants rights as long as the rights are reciprocated.”
