By Tony O’Reilly-
The UK and the EU are believed to be on the cusp of a deal over post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, (pictured0will meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor, Berkshire, to discuss all the ”range of complex challenges” around the Northern Ireland Protocol, Downing Street said.
Downing Street is optimistic that the talks could produce a much needed breakthrough after months of negotiations with Brussels about fixing the protocol.
The overall aim of the deal is to change the Northern Ireland Protocol, which sees certain goods checked when entering from the rest of the UK
Sunak will brief his Cabinet following the late lunchtime face-to-face with the European Commission chief, after which he plans to hold a joint press conference with von der Leyen to announce any deal before heading to the House of Commons late on Monday to begin his trickiest task yet — selling that deal to Brexiteer MPs on his own Conservative benches, many of whom will be closely watching the verdict of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The move will be a defining moment in Sunak’s early premiership, which will potentially put to bed several years of stalemate talks since Britain’s 2020 departure from the bloc.
Under the protocol, the EU requires checks on trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in order to uphold its single market while avoiding such checks taking place at the sensitive land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The DUP has always perceived the protocol to be separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. and is boycotting the region’s power-sharing government until changes are made.
In a statement Sunday night, Downing Street said Sunak wanted “to ensure any deal fixes the practical problems on the ground, ensures trade flows freely within the whole of the U.K., safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in our Union and returns sovereignty to the people of Northern Ireland.
Scepticism from Mps in parliament over the deal appear to be smoothing over, with more of them coming round the idea, according to sources. Support from the DUP is imperative to sustain Northern Ireland’s power-sharing assembly.
Any proposed deal will be subject to a number of tests from The Dup.
“Over eighteen months ago we outlined our seven tests and used thoOne of the biggest flashpoints for Brexiteer MPs and the DUP will be the status of the Court of Justice of the European Union in governing disputes under the protocol. They see the continued presence of the EU’s top court in the arrangement as a challenge to British sovereignty.se to mark out the parameters for the way forward. Those tests will be how we will judge any deal between the EU and UK.”
A text from Sir Jeffrey’s text at the weekend did say that the “checks on the Irish Sea border are the symptom of the underlying problem, namely, that Northern Ireland is subject to a different set of laws imposed upon us by a foreign entity without any say or vote by any elected representative of the people of Northern Ireland” the party did not specifically demand an end to the primacy of EU laws or no role for the European Court of Justice in NI, something that is not in its tests but which it has latterly emphasised.
A major flashpoint for Brexiteer MPs and the DUP will be the status of the Court of Justice of the European Union in governing disputes under the protocol. There are opposing views as to how the role the EU top court should play in a post Brexit era, with some saying it should remain as the balancing voice of justice, and others adamant that it would erode the independence of British judges in the Uk.