EU and UK reach deal on Northern Ireland

The European Union and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement on the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol, British government sources said. The pact culminates negotiations between the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which took place on Monday in the town of Windsor, east of London, according to an official source of the UK Executive to British media. 

"I am pleased to report that we have made a breakthrough. We have changed the protocol and are now announcing the Windsor framework agreement," the British Prime Minister said at a joint press conference with the President of the Commission. Von der Leyen said the agreed roadmap "allows us to open a new chapter in our partnership and deliver solutions that meet the concerns of Northern Ireland". The agreement culminates years of negotiations and should pave the way for the future post-Brexit relationship between the EU and the UK. 

Von der Leyen will be received at nearby Windsor Castle by King Charles III, Buckingham Palace announced. The plans have outraged pro-hard Brexit British MPs, who see it as dragging the monarchy into the political arena. Former minister and current Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a champion of a Brexit without ties to Brussels, told GB News that "it is not constitutionally sensible to involve the king in a matter of political controversy".

After briefing his cabinet on the terms of the deal, Sunak will appear before the House of Commons to give details and face questions from MPs. The Prime Minister said today that he will put the deal to a vote in Parliament. 

After closing negotiations with Von der Leyen, the Prime Minister faces the challenge of convincing the pro-Brexit wing of his party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which have shown the greatest reluctance. The latest signs are that Sunak can count on the backing of some of the most qualified voices among the Eurosceptic Tories, such as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Steve Baker, although other party heavyweights, such as former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have yet to make a statement. 

Under the current protocol, Northern Ireland remains within the EU and British internal market, so that controls on trade between the UK and the EU are carried out between the island of Great Britain and the island of Ireland, which avoids erecting a physical border between the two Irelands and avoids undermining the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. This trade border, located in the Irish Sea, has also created political problems among Unionists, who see it as damaging to their relationship with the rest of the UK.

One of the doubts is whether the DUP will agree to re-establish the Northern Ireland devolved government, which has been paralysed since last year after the nationalist Sinn Féin won the regional elections and the unionist party, the second most voted party, refused to join the government as stipulated in the Good Friday Agreement. "We will take time to consider the details and to see if [the deal] passes our seven tests," tweeted Unionist leader Jeffrey Donaldson. 

The DUP has been blocking the formation of a power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland, to be led by Sinn Féin, for months and has said it will maintain its veto until the problems it believes have been created by the current post-Brexit protocol are resolved. 

The pound and the London Stock Exchange rose after the announcement. The pound was up 0.63% against the dollar to 1.2026 dollars and 0.30% against the euro to 1.1356 euros at mid-session on the London Stock Exchange.