UK strikes Northern Ireland deal with EU

GBNEWS24DESK//

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has struck a new deal with the European Union on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and he said it would pave the way for a new chapter in London’s relationship with the bloc.

Standing alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a news conference in Windsor, Sunak said the two sides had agreed to ease trade rules for the British province and give its lawmakers more control over the laws they have to follow.

“I’m pleased to report that we have now made a decisive breakthrough,” Sunak said, adding that they had agreed to change the original deal for Northern Ireland, known as the protocol, to create the “New Windsor Framework”.

“This is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship.”

The issue has been one of the most contentious regarding Britain’s departure from the European Union in 2020.

Northern Ireland, a British province, had an open border with Ireland, an EU member. Any return to a hard border could have jeopardised the 1998 peace deal which mostly ended three decades of sectarian and political violence in Northern Ireland.

For Sunak, the agreement marks a high-risk strategy just four months after he took office. He is looking to secure a compromise and improve relations with Brussels – and the United States – without sufficiently angering the wing of his party most wedded to Brexit.

The success of the deal is likely to hinge on whether it convinces the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end its boycott of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing arrangements. These were central to the 1998 peace agreement.

Sunak is likely to talk up the fact he has secured what he described as a “Stormont brake”, which he said would allow Stormont – the regional assembly – to stop any EU laws from applying in Northern Ireland on goods.

“If the break is pulled the UK government will have a veto,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether the new terms will go far enough to end political deadlock in Northern Ireland and satisfy critics in Britain and the province.

Von der Leyen said the European Court of Justice would have the final say on European Union law and single market issues.