Politics

Northern Ireland protocol deal ‘by no means done’, says Rishi Sunak

British PM plays down prospect of imminent agreement amid speculation one could be announced next week

British PM Rishi Sunak with US vice president Kamala Harris at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, where he appeared to play down the prospect of an imminent agreement on the NI protocol. Photograph: Ben Stansall-WPA Pool/Getty Images
British PM Rishi Sunak with US vice president Kamala Harris at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, where he appeared to play down the prospect of an imminent agreement on the NI protocol. Photograph: Ben Stansall-WPA Pool/Getty Images
Sat Feb 18 2023 - 15:27

British prime minister Rishi Sunak has said a deal with the European Union on fixing issues with the Northern Ireland protocol is “by no means done”.

Mr Sunak appeared to play down the prospect of an imminent agreement, amid speculation one could be announced early next week.

He met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen behind closed doors on the fringes of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday as he seeks to secure a deal aimed at breaking the impasse over the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements.

But in his speech to the forum, he suggested there is still a way to go.

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“We’re engaging in those conversations with the European Union all the time and we have been for a while, but what I’d say is there is still work to do,” he said.

“There are still challenges to work through. We have not resolved all these issues. No, there isn’t a deal that has been done, there is an understanding of what needs to be done.”

[ EU-UK protocol deal will recognise status of Northern Ireland ]

Mr Sunak added that “we’re working through [the issues] hard and we will work through them intensely with the EU, but we are by no means done”.

The prime minister’s comments follow an agreement between the European Commission and the British government that the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, subject to the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, should be explicitly recognised in any new deal on the protocol.

It is not yet clear, however, if the guarantees will satisfy the DUP sufficiently to enable the powersharing institutions to be revived.

Mr Sunak’s trip to the German summit came a day after his meetings with the five main Stormont parties in Belfast to gain their support. However, he was warned by the DUP, the most vocal critics of the protocol, that his proposed deal did not go far enough.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson was non-committal after his meeting with Mr Sunak, telling reporters that “on some very important issues there has been real progress but there remain some outstanding issues that we need to get over the line”.

In a weekend message to the unionist party’s members, Mr Donaldson said: “Progress has been made in some areas and while that is welcome, in other key areas it currently falls short of what would be acceptable and required to meet our seven tests.

“I have indicated to the prime minister that it is important he agrees the right deal rather than a rushed deal. Solutions must be found which respect Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and its internal market and deal with the democratic deficit created by the protocol.”

Mr Sunak spent much longer with the DUP than with Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, the SDLP or the UUP, who each held relatively brief meetings with Mr Sunak on Friday.

Irish Government officials briefed on the talks said that the DUP “won’t get all they want” but that the EU had moved substantially to accommodate unionist concerns.

“The DUP will get a lot of what they want but not everything – there is a need to compromise,” a source said.

Irish sources also said that it was very clear that the primary concern of the British government was to ease tensions with the EU for economic and trade reasons.

On Saturday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar briefed Ms von der Leyen, on the state-of-play ahead of her meeting with Mr Sunak.

Mr Varadkar “expressed his strong wish to see a positive outcome that provides a new foundation for relations between the EU and the UK,” a spokesman said. “Most importantly, he hoped for an agreement that can pave the way for restoration of the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement.”

Further concessions

Mr Sunak may push EU leaders for further concessions on the oversight role of the European Court of Justice, but the European Commission is unlikely to budge on its red line – that the court has the final say on single market issues.

Any compromise over the court’s jurisdiction will also anger Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers in the European Research Group, who could rebel if the changes are put to a vote in the Commons.

The UK and the EU have been engaged in substantive negotiations over the workings of the protocol, which was included in the withdrawal agreement to ensure the free movement of goods across the Irish land Border after Brexit.

The protocol instead created economic barriers on trade being shipped from Britain to Northern Ireland.

It has proved to be deeply unpopular with unionists, who claim it has weakened Northern Ireland’s place within the UK, and the DUP has used a Stormont veto to collapse the powersharing institutions in protest at the arrangements.

Mr Sunak met German chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Munich summit, though No 10′s readout of the talks suggested the protocol did not come up. – PA