In the dispute over the Brexit rules for Northern Ireland, the responsible British minister, David Frost, has repeatedly threatened to partially suspend the agreements of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol.
At the same time he called on the EU to be prudent.
British Minister David Frost described the proposals submitted by the EU Commission in mid-October to resolve difficulties in trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland as inadequate.
The talks since then have not brought a solution.
There is still time to come to an agreement.
Should that not succeed, however, the triggering of the emergency mechanism of Article 16 of the protocol will "remain the only option," said Frost on Wednesday in the House of Lords in London.
"I politely recommend that our European friends stay calm and not lose their temper," continued Frost.
There is still a "real opportunity" to avoid confrontation and to achieve a new balance.
At the moment, however, Brussels seems to be taking the position that triggering Article 16 by London would result in “disproportionate countermeasures”, said Frost.
The Northern Ireland Protocol is part of the Brexit Agreement and provides that Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, continues to follow the rules of the EU internal market and the European Customs Union.
This is to prevent a goods border between Northern Ireland and the EU member Ireland.
Otherwise, a resurgence of the violent conflict between supporters of a reunification of the two parts of Ireland and supporters of the Northern Irish Union with Great Britain is feared. What is needed now is physical checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic is expected to hold further talks in London this Friday.
On Wednesday he informed EU diplomats about the status of the talks.
As participants reported afterwards, the EU is preparing to trigger Article 16.
However, no concrete measures were discussed.
An EU diplomat told the German Press Agency that there was agreement “that such an arbitrary and unjustified move by the UK will result in a clear European response”.