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LAST UPDATE | 20 Feb 2023
THE UK AND the EU appeared to inch closer to a deal over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol after “productive” talks were held during an “intensive” phase of negotiations.
It comes after the DUP attempted to dampen hopes that it will support any deal on the Protocol, despite Downing Street raising hopes of an imminent announcement of a deal.
Downing Street earlier insisted a “final deal” had not been struck as they seek an agreement that will satisfy the demands of the DUP.
A spokesperson denied reports that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been forced to delay an announcement – widely expected as early as this week – amid backlash from senior Tories and the DUP.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting in the coming days after a video discussion this afternoon.
In a tweet, Cleverly welcomed today’s discussions with the European Commission vice-president, saying that they are “focused on finding a durable solution” for Northern Ireland.
“Intensive work continues and we agreed to talk again in the coming days,” he added.
Sefcovic described their video call, which was also joined by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, as a “productive” attempt to find joint solutions.
A productive video call with @JamesCleverly and @chhcalling, taking stock of our work to find joint solutions to everyday concerns in Northern Ireland. Our 🔝 priority is to succeed for the benefit of all communities.
— Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) February 20, 2023
Hard work continues. We've agreed to meet later this week.
“Our top priority is to succeed for the benefit of all communities. Hard work continues. We’ve agreed to meet later this week”, he tweeted.
Sources in Brussels welcomed the move to schedule in-person talks as a positive step, but said a location had not been set.
Unionists politicians are seeking changes to the trading arrangements, with the DUP blocking the operation of the Stormont Assembly as part of its opposition to the Protocol.
Changes to the Protocol might pave the way for the DUP to end their effective parliamentary veto of the Assembly but senior DUP politicians have suggested that the bar for such changes has not yet been reached.
The DUP has warned it would not support a deal retaining the oversight role of the European Court of Justice.
Downing Street officials held talks with their Brussels counterparts yesterday on how to give local politicians a greater say in the application of EU law in the region, addressing what unionists call the “democratic deficit”.
Senior DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the party had “heard nothing” from the Government on this “fundamental issue”.
“The progress made so far is very slim. The fundamental issues have not been addressed,” Wilson told Channel 4 News yesterday.
Wilson went further today, stating that he does not believe there will be a deal this week between the UK Government and the EU.
Wilson said that Northern Ireland remaining in the EU single market is also a non-runner for his party.
“If a deal is agreed which still keeps us in the EU single market, as ministers in the Northern Ireland Assembly we would be required by law to implement that deal and we are not going to do that because we believe such an arrangement is designed to take us out of the United Kingdom and indeed would take us out of the United Kingdom,” he told Sky News.
“Increasingly we would have to agree EU laws which diverge from UK laws and in doing so would separate our own country from the United Kingdom.
We are British and we expect to be governed by British law, not Brussels law. We would certainly not collaborate in administering Brussels law in our part of the United Kingdom.
According to a report in The Times, Sunak is willing to go ahead with a UK-EU accord even without the DUP’s support.
Referring to the DUP’s issues around the European Court of Justice, the newspaper quoted an unnamed British official as saying that it would be “unhelpful” to “set a bar that is not necessarily in the interests of those we are trying to negotiate for”.
If a deal is reached between the UK and the EU it is likely that Sunak would have sufficient votes in the House of Commons to approve as it is likely to have the backing of the Labour party and a sizeable number of his own Conservative MPs.
Earlier in the day, Conservative former minister Simon Clarke backed a call by Boris Johnson for ministers to press on with legislation enabling them to override parts of the Protocol.
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman stressed the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which is currently stalled in the House of Lords, remains “important” in “the absence of a negotiated solution”.
The spokesman told reporters: “It’s clear that we need to find solutions that protect Northern Ireland’s place in our internal market, safeguard the Good Friday Agreement and resolves the practical issues that the protocol is causing for families and businesses.
“The Prime Minister has been clear that we have not resolved all of those issues and no deal has been done as yet.”
Meanwhile, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the Protocol Bill as “one of the biggest tools that we have in solving the problem on the Irish Sea”.
Braverman, a longstanding Eurosceptic, argued that Sunak is right to be “committed to finding a pragmatic solution to resolve these issues”.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said Downing Street will remain “in close contact” with the DUP and other parties, but added: “It would be wrong to say there is a final deal.
“There’s intensive work to do with the EU, that work is ongoing.”
Downing Street declined to commit to a Commons vote, with the official spokesman only saying: “You will hear more from us should an agreement be reached with the EU that reaches the challenges the Prime Minister has set out.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer, speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Essex, said: “I think it should be put to a vote, and I’m very clear to the Prime Minister I will put the country first and the party second and he should do the same.”
Micheál Martin
The people of Northern Ireland voted, and they want their institutions restored. People had legitimate concerns around the operation of the Protocol. There has been a very sincere and substantial attempt to resolve those between the EU and UK. pic.twitter.com/RCeuGzO7hV
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) February 20, 2023
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels today.
The meeting of EU foreign ministers was said to be dominated by the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but discussions on the Protocol are also likely to feature.
Speaking to reporters, he was asked about the issue of democratic consent and whether Brussels would countenance a deal that gave politicians in Northern Ireland more of a say in shaping the EU laws.
He said it was important that any agreement needed to have have mechanisms so that parties could have ongoing “inputs”.
“People want to make sure that this negotiated resolution between the EU and UK sustains into the future and so, within the joint committees there are mechanisms there that can be developed to facilitate inputs, to make sure that this agreement sustains into the future, and those concerns have been heard by all concerned.
Martin said there are “substantive” and “problem-solving” talks ongoing between the UK and EU.
The current phase is characterised by a much more problem-solving approach, substantive engagement to improve upon a protocol that was originally negotiated and upon which people in Northern Ireland had concerns about.
He added, that trust between the parties has improved in recent months:
“It’s the resolution of these concerns by negotiation of the subject matter and the process has been ongoing over the last three to four months. It’s clear to me that very, very good progress has been made and also that the nature of the engagement has been a genuine one, and trust has built up .”
- With reporting by Press Association and Jane Moore
The majority in Northern Ireland voted “No” for Brexit that’s a fact. This lot are like a scratched record stuck in the scratch from the past and are never going get beyond it.
@Mick McGuinness: Sammy Wilson on this morning demanding that NI leave the single market. At last we are seeing the death spiral thinking among the right wing in the party and now that it is on full display for all to see, it may well be time for an election and let’s see if they still have the support of mainstream unionist voters.
@Mick McGuinness: Ah, a man who knows his facts. Kudos! Actually 56% of NI voted against Brexit. It is not just the DUP that does not like the NI Protocol, since it treats NI different from the rest of the Uk.
Typical DUP, when it came to abortion and other issues they were happy to remain seperate from the UK. Ask anyone in business in NI and they will all tell you it’s better to live in both EU and UK trade area. Best of both worlds. The DUP would prefer a basket case NI completely seperate from the EU than a prosperous one in the current setup.
@Derek Moran:
There should be a provision in the Brexit deal that helps those living in NI that want to remain under Westminster rule, to repatriate to the mainland and offer compensation for the move.
@zephyrum: yes indeed and England and whales should pay for it as these where the one’s who voted for it and no one else
@zephyrum: “The mainland”?OMG !!
@kevin mc cormack: What did the whales ever do on you ?
@Derek Moran: nothing prosperous about it, I live in it, the cost of living is through the roof like everywhere else. Show me this prosperity.
DUP will always say NO, and is not willing to compromise so move on without them. Remember they are in the minority now in these six counties.
@Joe Johnson: easier said than done.
@Joe Johnson:
NI unionists need to make a decision – Land or Loyalty.
If they choose the latter, repatriation with compensation over to Britain.
@zephyrum: awk shut up would ye
These guys are lost and about to deliver a fatal blow to their own cause. We can only hope their failure to offer leadership does not see a return to violence.
Might be time to drop the “Democratic” from their name if they’re not willing to engage in democracy.
Talk about a “deficit of democracy “! I’ll tell you what a deficit of democracy is- when the DUP refuse to form government to protest something their constituents have no control over and majority don’t support.
If the DUP want to be in government then be in government
If the DUP doesn’t want to be in government, then that’s fine, they can burgher off to their lodges and let the country’s democratic institutions do their job
@Dave Harris: The problem is that the Institution needs “Cross Party/ Community Support”, to function, and as long as one of the Parties refuse to even allow a Speaker to be elected, and be “the Opposition”, nothing will progress. That’s all the Party have to do. And that’s without even bringing in who “the Largest Party, representing that Community” is. I agree, with everyone that’s saying about how well the Region has it. The Protocol, on Paper sorted everything out. It suited everyone, at least form a Trading/Business Perspective. The problem might have been the implementation, which I think is what is what London is proposing, or at least how I saw the Protocol being implemented.
@Dave Harris: And I don’t think that the likes of Donaldson, and Boris see how what they want could be what brings about the very thing that they don’t want; “a United Ireland”.
@Pádraig Ó Tomhnair: giving any party the ability to collapse government if they don’t get their own way is not democratic at all.
@Dave Harris: It’s called “Coalition Government”, and this particular one is called “Mandatory Coalition. Chances are, you’ll never get “a One Party Government”, in the Region, if it was a possibility. It does have its benefits, but it still should be an issue of “P155, or get off the Pot”. Let those that want to govern do so, and whoever doesn’t want to can do that.
I am shocked… SHOCKED, at the obstinateness of the DUP.
Shocked.
Business people in the North on bbc4 this morning begging these clowns to solve this issue and support the protocol. Im unsure what side of the divide they fell on but the majority view of these people was the protocol has brought huge economic success to the 6 counties and there is is little fall out from it. The DUP are no longer representing the wellbeing of even their own community. Clearly they are out of any positive political ideas.
@Allora: In fact Sammy Wilson and Nigel Dodds are helping the cause for a border poll in the near future.
The sooner that the DUP accept that the British public no longer want to carry the burden that they are,maybe only then can they find happiness back home in Scotland, if they refuse to integrate into an Irish Republic. They could seek refuge in the Nederlands but I don’t think their worship of an ancient Dutch King will be of any relevance to the peace loving Dutch public.
Business in NI is booming. It has one foot in Europe and one foot in Britain. These fools can’t even see that. Their actions will see an acceleration of a united Ireland. Brexit cannot happen successfully with NI still attached to the UK.
Christ on a bike. As sure as day follows night, the dopes in the DUP say NO. Yet again. Sick to the teeth of them and their holding of everyone to hostage. Also, Bojo should be told to stay out of it
Ah, here they go! I was getting worried they had learned a new word and were about to say YES. But they are staying true to dinosaur form.
Perhaps we could add an M to the DUP, and just DUMP them because nothing changes with them.
How can we have Protocol when you have the DUP been run by the UVF. East Belfast UVF demand Donaldson rejects the Protocol proposals unless a third lane is added to allow “white goods” in without checks.
More as we get it…https://twitter.com/dup_online/status/1626558222030053377?s=20
They need to be pushed aside at this point.
The DUP has just made another demand, “We want a shruberee. NI, ni, ni”, negotiations continue…
@David Stapleton: split level with a path up the middle?
All they needed was Boris. All Boris needed was them. Now all the tool bags are together again. What can go wrong?
It is time for the UK government to kick ass and tell the DUP that the ECJ is non-negotiable if they want access to the common market. The alternative is a hard border between NI and the ROI.
@Don Hogan: Some of them want a hard border again.
Something that always struck me as being so ironic. Jeffrey and his chums always prattle on about how important it is for them to be part of the ‘union’. Yet, I listen to absolute 80′s radio station, which is based in England. It’s crazy the amount of advertisements they have that at the end state their service is available everywhere in the UK except Northern Ireland. So much for the ‘union’ Jeff.
@Declan Moran: I do not know but I guess that ‘Goods and services’ available in every part of the UK except Northern Ireland are probably somehow falling foul of the Protocol.
@Patrick Brompton: ah ok. Hadn’t thought of that. Makes sense alright
@Patrick Brompton: As someone originally from NI and with family there, I’ve often tried to order stuff online only for it to say ‘not available for delivery in ROI’. So I’ve then tried to get it delivered to NI only to get ‘only available for delivery in UK mainland, not available in NI’. This issue predates both brexit and the protocol. NI is simply too small a market for someone companies to bother with.
What London says: “The Protocol isn’t working, here’s what we propose, as a replacement.”.
What I hear: Here’s how we will implement the Protocol that we says needs to be replaced.”.
Stop press. dup says no. Again.
Look you don’t negotiate with the DUP because they will always say no. You go direct to Westminster and get them to put the pressure on. Now the best way to get that is for Sunak to tell the DUP that if they dont accept the protocol and or get back to Stormont he will order the Northern Irish minister to request a border poll that will give the DUP a real scare and compel them back into doing their jobs.
@Ciaran Burke: border poll would result in staying with the union! Probably 15 years away from 50+1
The only senior thing about poor sammy is the number of candles in his birthday cake!!
DUP will never ever ever go back in with SG as the bigger party. Ever
Geoffrey is hoping for a win on this to take to the election so that the DUP can regain the First Minister. Then the proper order of things will be restored.
It is wrong to think you can negotiate with the DUP. The notion of a “Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people” runs deep and is in the Unionist DNA. Outbreeding and thus outvoting the Unionists is the only solution as the British Parliament will drop NI as soon as possible after a vote in favour of reunification. There is cover for this in the GFA which is an easy sell to those on the “mainland”. Meanwhile, democracy dictates that Sunak should have the numbers to ignore the DUP/ERG axis and push through an agreement with the EU. If the DUP thereafter delay, refuse or fail to enter the NI Assembly with SF, Sunak needs to be inventive and accord the Alliance as the official Opposition. Refuse to pay the DUP MLA salaries and see how long the DUP remain outside the tent?
Geoffrey you absolute c …
The DUP reminds me of the dog in the manger, he won’t eat the hay and he won’t let the ass ear it either.
ABC (New wave-type band of the early 1980′s) announce first album in 30 years, world tour of Lancashire working clubs, and and how best to shopper-scrounge when out of vogue.
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