A DUP MP has warned “huge gaps” remain to be addressed in the negotiations between the European Union and the UK amid speculation the two sides could agree a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol this week.
Sammy Wilson said the “fundamental issue” for the party remained “the imposition of EU law on Northern Ireland” and if this was not dealt with, the UK government could “get a deal, but it’ll not be a deal that we find acceptable”.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak held meetings with the DUP in Belfast last week. He also had short discussions with Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SDLP and Ulster Unionists.
In a message to party members over the weekend, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed the progress made in “some areas” but said “in other key areas it currently falls short of what would be acceptable and required to meet our seven tests”.
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The DUP has said it will not re-enter the North’s stalled powersharing institutions unless the protocol deal meets these requirements.
Mr Wilson told The Irish Times the DUP had not seen the text of any deal but had been briefed and “there are huge gaps still left in the kind of issues we believed need to be addressed”.
The East Antrim MP was doubtful as to whether these could be resolved speedily, saying: “The fact the [UK] government’s been at this for two or three months and has not even been able to address the major issues probably wouldn’t hold out much hope of a deal which is going to iron out the problems which the protocol has caused.”
Mr Wilson welcomed the intervention this weekend by Boris Johnson, with reports on Sunday quoting a source close to the former UK prime minister who said it would be a “great mistake” to drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
He said Mr Sunak had “weakened his hand considerably because he’s gone into these negotiations without the Protocol Bill being in place,” adding: “I don’t know if he is capable of delivering what is needed.”
Intensive discussions between EU and UK officials are set to continue in the coming days in a bid to secure an agreement to resolve the long-running standoff over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements.
Meetings took place over the weekend between senior Irish, British and EU politicians, with Tánaiste Micheál Martin due to meet the EU’s negotiator Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels on Sunday night.
Dublin is waiting to see how talks play out between the UK and EU in the coming days but there is a view within the Irish Government that the EU has been “flexible”.
A source said “progress is being made” but there is “no doubt” there remain “challenges ahead”.
The European Commission has offered reassurance to member states that negotiators will not cross their “red line” over the role of the European Court of Justice.
Mr Martin is expected to liaise with key allies as he joins a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, in a meeting focused on support for Ukraine.
The EU has been keen to emphasise that support for Ukraine remains its foremost foreign policy concern, and the topic took priority as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen met Mr Sunak over the weekend.
