According to the Irish Times, the EU is set to take the UK and the Republic of Ireland to court for failing to comply with rules designed to boost competition in the natural gas market.

The paper says that EU rules require gas pipelines connecting different member states to offer maximum capacity to the market to aid competition, and the commission believes London and Dublin are not "fully in line" with those rules.

The case is being referred to the European Court of Justice and is believed to refer to pipelines connecting Ireland with Northern Ireland, and Northern Ireland with Scotland, that are not open to the market.