The UK’s negotiator Liz Truss, who will meet Mr Sefcovic in Brussels next week, told him last week that the UK and EU should rebuild their relationship to tackle the challenges the West are facing.

The Northern Ireland Protocol created the Irish Sea border, which introduced checks on British goods imported to the province to ensure they meet EU standards.  

Northern Ireland continues to follow some EU rules to prevent the need for a hard Irish border with EU member Ireland.

But the Government argues the checks on British goods are too onerous and have a chilling effect on trade and forcing supply chains to shift to EU suppliers.

Brussels has offered to cut many checks but responded angrily to British threats to trigger Article 16 of the treaty, which would unilaterally suspend parts of the protocol.

It has warned that such a move could trigger a trade war and even lead to the cancellation of the UK-EU trade deal.

Liz Truss replaced Lord Frost as the UK’s negotiator at Christmas after the UK dialled down rhetoric over Article 16 and softened its demands over the role of EU judges in Northern Ireland.

‘EU must build their own collective security pact’

In his speech, Mr Macron also said Europeans needed to build their own collective security pact and re-arm themselves in the face of Russian military moves on the continent’s doorstep.

“Security on our continent requires strategic rearmament,” he added, saying that “frank and demanding” talks with Russia were also required.

“As Europeans, we need to collectively make our own demands and put ourselves in a position to enforce them,” he said.

The EU was not involved in direct US talks with Moscow last week over Russia’s decision to mass tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine.