LONDON: Senior British minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday the European Union had triggered Article 16 of the Northern Irish protocol, which covers post-Brexit trade between Britain and Northern Ireland, outside of the rulebook.

The article allows either party to take unilateral measures if there is an unexpected negative effect arising from the Brexit divorce agreement.

"It is appropriate to recognise that there may be circumstances in which Article 16 may need to be invoked or deployed," Gove told lawmakers. "It was the case that the (EU) Commission in the way in which it invoked it did so completely outside the rulebook."