On Monday, the leaders of Britain and the European Union will hold talks in London to finalise a new deal to tackle trade and political disruption in Northern Ireland caused by Brexit. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak have agreed to work together to find practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has said that Britain is on the cusp of a deal with the EU, after more than a year of negotiations between London and Brussels. The agreement would mark an end to a two-year standoff between the UK and the EU. However, Sunak could face a battle with pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers and pro-British Northern Irish politicians to make the deal work.
The UK signed an accord with Brussels known as the Northern Ireland Protocol to avoid imposing politically contentious checks along the 500km land border with EU member the Republic of Ireland. This protocol effectively created a border for some goods moving from Britain as it kept Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods.
Raab has said that the deal would address trade tensions by easing the physical checks on goods that were demanded by the EU under the original agreement. It would also address concerns that the EU can set rules for Northern Ireland that cannot be influenced by the region’s voters and politicians. However, he stopped short of saying European courts would no longer have a say in Northern Ireland, which is a key demand of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The DUP has set out seven tests for any deal, and Sunak is confident that it meets these conditions. However, without DUP approval, Northern Ireland could remain without a devolved government, meaning one of the main aims of Sunak’s renegotiation would have failed. A eurosceptic contingent of the Conservative Party is likely to take its lead from the DUP’s final verdict, raising the risk that Sunak’s party fractures and his agenda on the economy, health and immigration reform is derailed. Raab has said that lawmakers will have an opportunity to express themselves, but did not explicitly promise a vote.
Monday’s talks between Britain and the EU are crucial for both sides, as they seek to finalise a deal that will ease trade and political disruption in Northern Ireland caused by Brexit. Sunak is looking to succeed in negotiations where his predecessors failed, but he could face opposition from both Conservative lawmakers and pro-British Northern Irish politicians. The DUP has set out seven tests for any deal, and Sunak is confident that it meets these conditions. Without their approval, Northern Ireland could remain without a devolved government, which could derail Sunak’s agenda on the economy, health and immigration reform. Lawmakers will have an opportunity to express themselves, but it remains to be seen if they will get a vote on approving the deal.