- By Ione Wells, Chris Mason and Jessica Parker
- BBC policy
February 26, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. GMT
Updated 7 minutes ago
Image source, Getty Images
Rishi Sunak will hold face-to-face talks with the President of the European Commission as he tries to secure a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister and Ursula von der Leyen said they would discuss the “set of complex challenges” surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol on Monday.
The UK wants to change the protocol whereby some goods are checked upon entry from the rest of the UK.
Dominic Raab previously said Britain and the EU were “on the cusp” of an agreement.
Mr Sunak and Ms von der Leyen said they had agreed to continue their work “towards common, practical solutions”.
A deal has been awaited for days, with recent talks centered on its presentation and delivery.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab previously told the BBC Britain is close to finalizing the deal with the European Union.
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Mr Raab said: “We’re on the cusp, we’ve made a lot of progress, we’re not there yet but it would be a really important deal…
“I think it would be a paradigm shift for communities in Northern Ireland first and foremost, but I think it would be a significant achievement.”
Signed by Boris Johnson in 2020, the protocol meant Northern Ireland continued to follow some EU laws to allow goods to flow freely across the border into the Irish Republic without controls.
Under the terms of the Protocol, Northern Ireland continued to comply with some EU laws to circumvent the need for controls at the UK/Republic of Ireland border.
Goods are currently checked on arrival from England, Scotland or Wales at ports in Northern Ireland. They can then be brought to the Republic of Ireland once these checks are complete.
The new plan calls for the goods to be divided into two different lanes. Those destined for Northern Ireland only would go into the green lane and would not be checked, while those destined for the Republic of Ireland and the EU would go into the red lane and checks would be carried out.