LONDON — Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen will meet in the U.K. on Monday, as expectation builds for an imminent announcement on a post-Brexit settlement for Northern Ireland.
The pair “agreed to continue their work in person towards shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland,” the British prime minister and European Commission president said in a joint statement on Sunday.
The meeting indicates the pair are on the cusp of unveiling an agreement to ease trade flows between Britain and Northern Ireland and put to rest the biggest hangover of Brexit three years after Britain left the EU. Sunak and von der Leyen are aiming to announce a formal deal after their meeting on Monday, according to officials familiar with the plan in both London and Brussels.
It would be a triumph for Sunak, who has sought to dial down tensions with the EU since taking power in October. But there could still be peril ahead for the premier, who was unable to convince unionists in Northern Ireland and Brexiteers in his own ruling Conservative Party to endorse an agreement last week.
The deal would seek to soften trade and regulatory barriers that emerged within the U.K. as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol — the portion of the Brexit deal negotiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson that governs the region’s unique place in both the U.K.'s and EU’s trading markets.
The proposed solution centers around “green” and “red” customs lanes for goods flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and onward to the EU, respectively. That would end onerous checks and paperwork on goods traveling within the U.K., Bloomberg previously reported.
Sunak had been preparing to unveil a new deal last week, but vocal opposition from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party and some pro-Brexit Tory MPs scuppered the plan. The premier’s hope is that a deal will draw a line under a dispute with the EU that has poisoned relations since Britain left the bloc three years ago, while avoiding deepening divisions within his party.
