EU chief: EU-UK should put long-term relationship first

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's top official urged both sides to think about their long-term relationship and put an end to the bloc's spat with the U.K. over post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Lengthy negotiations over Britain's divorce from the EU have already been complicated, and the practical separation between the former partners proves to be a thorny issue, too.

In their latest feud, the EU is angry over the British government’s delay in implementing new checks on some goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K., as was agreed upon in the Brexit deal. On the other hand, Britain says those checks are imposing a big burden on U.K. businesses and destabilizing Northern Ireland’s peace.

“I’ve always said I want a new beginning with old friends," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday. “We see that at the beginning now there are difficulties, and there are serious issues that have to be solved . I’m deeply convinced, with a constructive approach, and with the notion that we know it’s a long-term relationship we are building here, this issues just can be overcome."

At the heart of their dispute lies the Northern Ireland protocol, a Brexit mechanism that created a trade border in the Irish Sea to avoid creating a hard border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. An open Irish border helped underpin the peace process that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

“We know that the withdrawal agreement and the protocol are the best we could have gotten in a complicated situation," Von der Leyen said. “Now it’s our duty on both sides to make sure that it works and and to implement it."

The bloc is threatening legal action if the U.K. does not fully bring in the checks, which include a ban on chilled...