The British Foreign Secretary is set for face-to-face talks with a senior EU diplomat as London and Brussels look to intensify efforts to resolve the log jam over post-Brexit trade.

James Cleverly will hold talks with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in Brussels today about the impasse over the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

A commission spokesman said it was part of the "ongoing engagement" between the senior politicians on the trading arrangements that have created barriers to the movement of goods between Britain and the North.

The ongoing dispute over the protocol is intrinsically linked to the current political instability in the North. The DUP is blocking the functioning of the powersharing institutions at Stormont, claiming the protocol has undermined the North's place within the United Kingdom. The party has insisted it will not allow the formation of a ministerial executive in Belfast without radical changes to the protocol.

The British government has vowed to secure changes to the protocol it agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement. While it has expressed hope of reaching a settlement with Brussels, Britain is also progressing contentious legislation at Westminster that would empower ministers to unilaterally scrap the bulk of the arrangements without EU approval. This could prompt retaliatory action from the European Commission.

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The UK and EU are keen to resolve the dispute before the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement next year.

Meanwhile, Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has invited the leaders of the main Stormont parties to take part in discussions in Belfast.

Commenting on the engagement between the EU and UK, he told MPs yesterday: "I really, truly believe there is landing zone that has been identified by all parties to aim for."

Image: British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Getty