EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on February 27, 2023 in Windsor (POOL/Dan Kitwood)
The UK and European Union reached a compromise on post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland on Monday, hoping to “open a new chapter” after months of turbulent relations and political deadlock in the British countryside.
With London and Brussels until recently seemingly on the brink of a trade war over this crisis, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the deal at a joint press conference in Windsor, west London.
A “historic” deal, said the European leader, that protects “the hard-won peace thanks to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement,” which ended the conflict between mainly Protestant Unionists and majority Catholic Republicans, and whose 25th anniversary will be celebrated in April.
US President Joe Biden, who is tied to his Irish roots, hailed the deal reached on Monday as a “essential step” in keeping and strengthening peace and hoped for a fresh start to Northern Ireland’s institutions soon.
Speaking to the lower house, Rishi Sunak again urged unionists to return to local institutions, which they have been boycotting for a year. “I understand and have listened to your frustration and dissatisfaction,” said the Prime Minister, who sees the deal as a “watershed moment” for the people of Northern Ireland.
– Political blockade –
Signed in 2020 and brokered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Northern Ireland Protocol regulates the movement of goods between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland, which shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU.
This protocol sought to avoid a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland that could weaken peace, while protecting Europe’s internal market.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street in London on February 22, 2023 (AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS)
But it raised practical problems by imposing customs controls on products entering Northern Ireland from Britain.
The protocol thus created tensions between the European Union and London, but also became a domestic issue for Rishi Sunak, who faced opposition from his majority’s right wing and that of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) trade unionists to any questioning of Northern Ireland’s place within of the United Kingdom.
The latter reject any factual application of European law in the British provinces and have blocked the work of the local executive for a year.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson had a mixed reaction to the agreement, warning that he saw “matters of concern” and reserving his decision to end the boycott of local institutions demanded by the leader of Sinn Féin Northern Die Irish Michelle O’Neill.
– Expected vote of MEPs –
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on January 12, 2023 in Belfast, Northern Ireland (AFP / PAUL FAITH)
With this “Windsor framework” presented on Monday, “we have eliminated the border in the Irish Sea,” argued before the House of Commons Rishi Sunak, who is politically playing big with this agreement. According to Ursula von der Leyen, it offers “solid guarantees” for the protection of the European internal market.
Only goods that are expected to reach the Republic of Ireland and thus the European internal market are checked.
To meet the concerns of unionists who want a say in how new European rules are applied in Northern Ireland, the local parliament will have an ’emergency brake’. If activated, “the British government will have a veto,” stressed Rishi Sunak.
The agreement celebrated in Paris – according to French President Emmanuel Macron an “important decision” – also provides in Berlin and Dublin as well as in British business circles that London waives a bill with which the British government wanted to unilaterally arrogate itself right to certain provisions of the override the Northern Ireland Protocol.
In return, Rishi Sunak obtains the withdrawal of the court case initiated by the Europeans, but deprives himself of a lever that is dear to the right wing of his party.
The “Good Friday Agreement,” the 1998 Northern Ireland peace accord that ended three decades of violence (AFP/)
After initial reactions from his own camp, he seems able to avoid a major revolt that would affect his authority after four months in power, but after maintaining the vagueness, he confirmed that the new deal was “timely ” be put to the vote.
Opposition leader Keir Starmer has already indicated his party will vote in favor of the deal.
Before her departure, Ursula von der Leyen drank with Karl III. Tea at Windsor Castle, a visit criticized by some Conservatives as a ploy to involve the King in such controversial political discussions.