The Prime Minister has vowed to take action on the Northern Ireland Protocol if the EU refuses to ditch “absurd” aspects of the post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Mr Johnson said his Government was currently working on “sandpapering” the Protocol, which governs Irish Sea trade post-Brexit, to address some of the concerns about trade disruption.
In an interview with BBC NI’s Spotlight programme, the Prime Minister was also questioned on the potential of a future poll on Northern Ireland’s constitutional status.
The programme also interviewed Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who insisted the Protocol was not tearing the UK apart.
The new trading arrangements have been cited as a factor behind the recent upsurge of violence in loyalist areas in Northern Ireland.
Loyalists believe the new economic barriers between the region and Great Britain have weakened their place in the UK.
Commercial goods also need to undergo various customs processes.
The Protocol has yet to be fully implemented with various exemptions on checks currently in place.
The EU has taken legal action against the UK for its decision to unilaterally extend some of those grace periods amid continuing talks between the two sides on ways to ease the red tape burden.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly warned that he will trigger a mechanism to suspend the Protocol – Article 16 – if changes to the arrangements cannot be agreed.
“What we’re doing is removing what I think of as the unnecessary protuberances and barriers that have grown up and we’re getting the barnacles off the thing and sandpapering it into shape.”
Irish premier Mr Martin said the Protocol posed no threat to the integrity of the UK.
“The Protocol is not tearing the United Kingdom apart, that’s just an overly dramatic presentation of it in our view,” he said.
“It explicitly affirms the constitutional position of Northern Ireland and the principle of consent.
“So it’s not a danger to the constitutional position of Northern Ireland at all, and was never intended to be.”
