LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested a coming deal with the European Union over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland would involve legal changes to the existing treaty, something the bloc has previously opposed.
In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson complained that under the existing “unacceptable” deal — known as the protocol — “EU laws are imposed in Northern Ireland with no democratic scrutiny or consent.” He asked the premier for an assurance “that he will address these fundamental constitutional issues, and do so not just by tweaking the protocol but by rewriting the legally binding treaty text?”
Sunak said he had heard Donaldson “loud and clear.” In a strong indication that he was seeking legal changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol, he added “I can assure him that I agree” and that this was “an essential part in the negotiations that remain ongoing with the European Union.”
The prime minister’s remarks suggest he faces a huge challenge to tread the line between the DUP’s demands and the EU’s red lines. European Commission President Maros Sefcovic, who is leading negotiations for the EU, has repeatedly said that “renegotiating the protocol is unrealistic.”
Government officials on both sides have previously signaled that any agreement would not rewrite the existing treaty between the U.K. and the EU on Northern Ireland. More likely is an arrangement under which they would change their own domestic laws to implement the terms of a new agreement.
Asked to clarify whether Sunak was seeking treaty changes, his spokeswoman later downplayed his remarks and said she wouldn’t get into the details of discussions or preempt their outcome.
Sunak spoke by phone late on Tuesday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and they agreed to speak again in the coming days, the prime minister’s spokesman, Max Blain, told reporters.
The government and unionists contend that the existing arrangements are snarling up the U.K.’s internal trade across the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Donaldson had raised “a vital question about the constitutional and legal framework in which these arrangements exist,” Sunak told the chamber. “I can assure him that this is at the very heart of the issues that must be addressed.”
The premier’s remarks will raise hopes among Northern Irish unionists of a more fundamental change to the existing treaty. It remains to be seen whether the final text of an agreement will meet the DUP’s concerns — or those of right-wingers in Sunak’s own Conservative Party whose views are closely aligned with those of the DUP.
Sunak also spoke virtually with affected businesses later on Wednesday, where he “made it clear that any deal would need to provide certainty, stability and clarity for the business community,” Downing Street said in an emailed statement.
Asked if Sunak was confident he could win over backbench Tory rebels, his press secretary said that he was very keen and alive to the strength of feeling on the renegotiation.
In the chamber, the prime minister signaled the House of Commons would get a say on any deal he secures. Asked by opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer if there would be a vote, Sunak replied: “Of course Parliament will express its view.”
Sunak refused to be drawn on the details of how a final deal would look, batting away questions from Starmer on whether Northern Ireland would continue to follow some EU laws and whether there would continue to be a role in the region for the European Court of Justice.
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(With assistance from Joe Mayes.)
