Britain and the European Union are on the cusp of a deal to resolve Northern Ireland’s contested post-Brexit arrangements, with diplomats set to gather in Brussels while British prime minister Rishi Sunak has launched a flurry of consultations to lock down the agreement.
Mr Sunak will travel to Belfast on Thursday night along with Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to speak to political parties.
He is also expected to confer with French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Munich on the matter, on the sidelines of an ongoing security and defence conference, diplomats say.
In Brussels, diplomats representing the 27 member states have been summoned to a meeting on Friday to discuss UK-EU relations, at which they are expected to be briefed on the outcome of long-running talks that were given a new impetus when Mr Sunak took power last autumn.
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Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin told RTÉ News that Mr Sunak wants to meet with the Northern parties to gather their views on the protocol.
“I have no doubt that the British prime minister, in advance of further discussions over the weekend and next week, wants to ascertain from the political parties in Northern Ireland their sense of the protocol and the various positions that they have in relation to it,” he said.
“I think there’s a bit of distance to go yet. I don’t understate the challenges here, but clearly the negotiations have been serious and substantive and trust has built up between the EU’s team and the UK team, but I think there’s probably some time to go yet.”
The talk in Brussels had been that a deal was all but done in recent weeks, with the delay in announcement attributed to the difficulty faced by the British prime minister in winning over hardliners in his Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to any compromises.
There is speculation that Mr Sunak’s visit will allow him to put the draft terms of an agreement to the DUP ahead of final discussions with the EU, with a deal potentially due to be announced next week.
The DUP – which has withdrawn from the Northern Assembly and Executive over its opposition to the protocol – has consistently said any deal must meet its “seven tests”.
“The fundamental issue to be dealt with is the democratic deficit and the constitutional damage done by the imposition of EU law,” the DUP MP Sammy Wilson said earlier this week.
“If this is not dealt with then the deal will fall short of what is required to restore the political institutions.”
An agreement to share live customs data on goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain with the EU last month was welcomed as a breakthrough that the European Commission said had increased their trust, potentially opening the door to more lenient implementation of the rules.
Among the outstanding issues have been the levels of checks required on goods entering Northern Ireland that the EU fears could be of most risk to its single market, such as animal, food and plant products that are no longer produced according to EU standards.
The role of the European Court of Justice in arbitrating disputes over the deal, signed as part of Britain’s exit from the EU, has remained a contentious point among pro-Brexit hardliners.
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The European Commission and Downing Street both described talks as “ongoing”.
“Whilst talks with the EU are ongoing, ministers continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure any solution fixes the practical problems on the ground, meets our overarching objectives and safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market,” a British government spokesperson said in a statement.
“The prime minister and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland are travelling to Northern Ireland this evening to speak to political parties as part of this engagement process.”
