According to several media reports, the European Union and Great Britain have reached an agreement in the long-standing Brexit dispute over the Northern Ireland Agreement. The conflict revolved around the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, which established special customs rules for trade between the British province of Northern Ireland and the EU state of Ireland. Northern Irish Protestants, in particular, were up in arms. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is visiting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this Monday, and an official statement from the two is expected later this afternoon.
The Northern Ireland Protocol is part of the Brexit Treaty on Britain’s exit from the EU. This is to prevent border controls between British Northern Ireland and the EU member Republic of Ireland having to be introduced. Otherwise, the conflict over unification of the two parts of Ireland is expected to flare up again.
The Northern Ireland Protocol has created a de facto customs border between the UK and the EU in the Irish Sea, separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. There is sharp criticism of this, because customs controls also cause difficulties in intra-British trade and the Union’s Protestant supporters in Northern Ireland feel cut off from Great Britain.
Representatives from London and Brussels had been struggling to find solutions to the problems that had arisen since the Brexit Treaty came into force in 2020. Transitional phases imposed unilaterally by London ensured that the necessary controls were not yet fully implemented. While ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his short-term successor Liz Truss threatened to unilaterally withdraw from the protocol, current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak struck a more constructive note.
Crucial to the success of an agreement is whether Sunak can get behind him the largest Protestant Unionist party in Northern Ireland, the DUP. In protest against the protocol, they have been blocking the formation of a government in the British part of the country for months and are demanding drastic changes. The hard core of Brexit supporters in the British Tory party and his predecessor Johnson also warned Prime Minister Sunak against making too many concessions to the EU.
The British Parliament should still be able to vote on the deal negotiated with Brussels. The opposition Labor Party has announced its support for the Conservative government.