Monitoring Desk
LONDON: Britain and the European Union (EU) were poised on Monday to agree to a significant overhaul of trade rules in Northern Ireland in a breakthrough aimed at resetting uneasy relations since Brexit.
Prime Minister UK Rishi Sunak and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were all set to initiate “final talks” at lunchtime in the UK in a bid to end over a year of negotiations and talks over the so-called Northern Ireland protocol.
Agreed in 2020 as a crucial part of the EU and Britain divorce, the pact kept the province in the only European market and subject to various trade rules than the rest of the United Kingdom, angering pro-UK unionists there and eurosceptics in London.
The government of the UK had threatened a unilateral overhaul of the protocol unless the European Union agreed to wholesale changes, spoiling diplomatic ties and risking a bigger trade war, but that prospect now appears to be diminishing.
Brexit deal between UK and EU
While leaving Brussels for Britain, von der Leyen said that she was looking forward to turning a page and opening a new chapter with their partner and friend,” said as she left Brussels for Britain.
The EU chief is also set to have a meeting with King Charles III in Winsdor, west of London, inciting controversy in the United Kingdom that Rishi Sunak was trying to display royal endorsement of the expected deal.
It is possible to face opposition from Brexiteers, comprising his potentially rebellious predecessor and ex-premier Boris Johnson, and other lawmakers representing the pro-British unionist community in Northern Ireland.
“We understand these are the final talks, and major progress has been made over a number of weeks and months, but it is crucial to have these leader-level talks for the deal to be finally accomplished,” he told reporters.
Rishi Sunak and von der Leyen are due to hold a brief presser in Windsor if both sides agree, before the UK leader, who came to power in October, makes a statement to parliament.
An agreement would end over a year of talks between the two sides, under the instruction of three different prime ministers from Britain and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.
The protocol has faced major opposition from DUP (Democratic Unionist Party), the largest pro-UK party there, which insists it threatens the province’s place within the United Kingdom.
The Democratic Unionist Party collapsed devolved power-sharing a year ago and expressed to keep blocking the smooth functioning of the assembly until the rules are scrapped.
It is still not clear if the deal, which is likely to end most checks on Northern Ireland-bound goods and decrease the role of European institutions there, will satisfy the party.
