Liz Truss would not have become Britain’s prime minister without the support of Conservative Eurosceptics who admired her introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. And her association with that legislation, which would give ministers the power to scrap most of the protocol, made her the European Union’s least favourite candidate.
But now that she is in Downing Street, Truss has an opportunity to reset relations with Europe by engaging in serious negotiations over the protocol. Taoiseach Micheál Martin will be among the first leaders the new prime minister will speak to and she has consistently asserted that she wants to resolve the issue through negotiation.
On his first day as Northern Ireland secretary, veteran Eurosceptic Chris Heaton-Harris told MPs that he believed there was a landing zone for an agreement. And he confirmed that it remains British government policy that the DUP should restore the Executive at Stormont ahead of the dispute over the protocol being resolved.
When the prime minister spoke a few minutes later, she appeared to contradict her Northern Ireland secretary, saying that the issues surrounding the protocol must be fixed before the Stormont institutions can be restored. And she said that although her preference was for a negotiated solution, it must deliver everything set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
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This includes the introduction of a dual regulatory system and the removal of the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) among other demands that the EU cannot agree to. Briefings from her government have also sent mixed signals, with signs that she is retreating from triggering Article 16 ahead of a September 15th deadline to respond to the EU’s legal action over Britain’s failure to implement the protocol.
According to some reports, the prime minister is instead preparing to request an extension of grace periods that allow for the partial application of the agreement. But her appointment of Brexit hardliner Steve Baker as a junior Northern Ireland minister points to an uncompromising approach. The House of Lords will start considering the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill within the next few weeks but Truss has little influence over the peers’ timetable and it could be next year before the legislation returns to the Commons.
President Joe Biden expressed concern about the stand-off in his call with Truss on Tuesday and the threat of a trade war with the EU undermines already shaky investor confidence in Britain. Truss will never be as strong as during these early days of her premiership and she should use it to return to serious negotiations on the protocol. If she does so, the EU should respond with generosity, flexibility and imagination in seeking a compromise that can resolve the dispute and restore political stability in Northern Ireland.