European Union and British officials are seeking to unlock an agreement on their post-Brexit trade relationship by February and put to rest a contentious dispute that’s overshadowed relations since the UK left the bloc three years ago.
(Bloomberg) — European Union and British officials are seeking to unlock an agreement on their post-Brexit trade relationship by February and put to rest a contentious dispute that’s overshadowed relations since the UK left the bloc three years ago.
The two sides have intensified talks over recent weeks on the so-called Northern Ireland protocol after months of stalemate, according to people familiar with the matter. The mood in London and Brussels is more positive than it has been in a while.
The EU’s Brexit chief, Maros Sefcovic, will meet UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in Brussels on Thursday to take political stock of matters. The meeting — their first in person — is not expected to provide an immediate breakthrough but the hope is it will give impetus to accelerate negotiations further in the new year, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions.
Any agreement would need the UK to move away from a position that has so far demanded that the European Court of Justice has no role in solving disputes relating to EU law, while the EU would need to further ease hurdles to trade flows between Britain and Northern Ireland and other obstacles such as the free movement of pets, according to one of the people.
Belfast Accord
The change in mood from EU officials reflects what their UK counterparts have been saying in recent weeks. Bloomberg previously reported that London had decided to delay elections in Northern Ireland to February in order to allow time for the UK and EU to strike a deal by that date.
The hope is to reach a deal well before the April anniversary of the 1998 Belfast peace agreement, the person said but cautioned that it was not a given as any settlement would likely need to satisfy the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland and Tory members in Westminster who supported Brexit. From the EU side, possible arrangements would need to respect the bloc’s rulebook.
A British official said the UK was not softening its stance on the ECJ. Any agreement would allow the two sides to move forward and focus on delivering the trade deal part of the UK-EU accords, including cooperation on research programs and a memorandum of understanding on financial services, one of the people said.
The Northern Ireland protocol is a key plank of the Brexit deal negotiated and agreed by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson some three years ago now but one that successive UK prime ministers have refused to implement, leading the EU to open several infringement procedures against London.
Tracking Goods
The protocol is the part of the Brexit agreement that keeps Northern Ireland in the EU customs block to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Throughout November, the EU also carried out tests on the UK’s live database for tracking goods flowing from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland. If the bloc is satisfied, it could pave the way for an agreement on customs checks in the Irish Sea.
–With assistance from Jorge Valero.
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