Brexit: What next for the Northern Ireland Protocol?

Sam Lowe, from the Centre for European Reform, said the EU would not be happy at the prospect of further extensions but would not be surprised.

"The question is whether the grace period extensions can be agreed together, as part of a joint exercise designed to work through the issues surrounding the implementation of the protocol, or whether the UK extends them unilaterally," he said.

"Either way, it's difficult to see them falling away any time soon."