Fresh talks aiming to secure a deal solving the issues in Northern Ireland created by Brexit are to be held in Brussels as negotiations draw out.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will attend talks with the EU’s Maros Sefcovic in Belgium on Thursday, but Government sources downplayed the chances of an agreement being struck this week.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will not join the Northern Ireland Protocol meeting and is instead heading to New York for a United Nations meeting on Ukraine.
We continue our work with our EU counterparts, we’re working hard to find joint solutions— European Commission spokesman Daniel Ferrie
Time was running out for a deal to be struck on Thursday and no announcement is expected to come on Friday, as it marks a year since Russia began its all-out assault on Ukraine.
European Commission spokesman Daniel Ferrie said: “We continue our work with our EU counterparts, we’re working hard to find joint solutions.
“Our exchanges are ongoing. I can confirm that vice-president Sefcovic will meet here in Brussels Chris Heaton-Harris later this afternoon.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, however, faces potential pushback from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Brexit hardliners in the Tory party.
Asked about the concerns, EU spokesman Eric Mamer said: “We of course understand this is a sensitive issue, it has been since the beginning, this is also precisely why we’ve had all these conversations.”
The protocol, agreed as part of the UK’s Brexit deal, effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods, meaning checks on products crossing from Great Britain.
The situation led to the collapse of powersharing in Northern Ireland, with the DUP protesting about the barrier to trade with the rest of the UK.
Downing Street has set no deadline for resolving the issue, but the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April adds to the imperative of getting a deal soon.
