British Prime Minister Rishi Sunakwill receive this Monday in London at the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to try to advance in person in the negotiations to unlock the protocol for Northern Irelanda negotiated regime as part of Brexit but that the British Government has refused to apply for two years.
The European Commission and the British Government have reported on von der Leyen’s trip to London in a joint statement that highlights that both “They have agreed to continue working in person.”
The objective is “to achieve shared and practical solutions to the range of complex challenges related to the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland”, Brussels has explained.
In recent days, the negotiating teams have made significant progress and speculation has skyrocketed about the imminence of an agreement to resolve the dispute. In fact, this same Sunday, the British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has assured that they are “on the verge of an agreement” and “in a matter of days, not weeks” in an interview with Sky News. Sunak himself had stated that his government is “giving everything” to reach an agreement.
Regarding the content of the pact, Raab has pointed to the establishment of a “green lane” for products from Great Britain enter Northern Ireland and a reduction in the powers of the European Court of Justice.
A mechanism is also being negotiated whereby the Parliament of Northern Ireland would have a say in any modification of the EU regulation that affects Northern Ireland. At the internal British political level, the Labor opposition hopes to support the agreement while the Democratic Unionist Party has refused to participate in a government with the republican party Sinn Féin in protest for the effects of the Northern Irish protocol.