On Thursday, the European Commission took Britain to the bloc's supreme court for allegedly violating the rules on tax cuts in commodity trade, just two months before Brexit Day.
The commission, the executive arm of the EU, said it acted because Britain has improperly extended an exemption from Value Added Tax to products that were not originally covered by decades-old standards.
"The Commission today decided to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the EU to extend the scope of a VAT measure that allows VAT exemption for certain commodity markets," the Commission said.
The decision comes amid growing doubts over whether Prime Minister Theresa May can win support for the Brexit deal she negotiated with the EU and prevent Britain from leaving the bloc without an agreement on March 29.
Under the withdrawal treaty concluded in Brussels, but not yet ratified by the United Kingdom or EU parliaments, Great Britain would have to respect the decisions of the Court of Justice in the cases initiated while it remained a member or during a period of Later transition.
Marianne Thyssen, the EU commissioner for labor and social affairs, told a news conference in Brussels that Brexit had nothing to do with the commission's decision.
"We treat the infringement the way we do for each member state, we do not make a difference between one member state or another, the United Kingdom is still a member of the Union," Thyssen said.
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