Foreign Secretary in Brussels in bid to solve Protocol row
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly heads to Brussels in latest bid to break Brexit deadlock over Northern Ireland as No10 says PM remains ‘hopeful’ deal can be struck to end Protocol row with EU
- Foreign Secretary heading to Brussels in ongoing effort to settle Protocol row
- James Cleverly will hold talks with EU vice-president Maros Sefcovic on Brexit
- There are rising hopes the dispute over Northern Ireland can soon be resolved
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is heading to Brussels today in an ongoing effort to settle a row with the EU over post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Mr Cleverly will hold face-to-face talks with EU vice-president Maros Sefcovic, who is the bloc’s negotiator over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
There have been rising hopes in recent weeks that an agreement can soon be struck to end the bitter trade dispute between the UK and EU.
It has even been suggested that a deal could be finalised by February, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April.
US President Joe Biden is said to be planning a visit to Northern Ireland to coincide with the anniversary – but this is reportedly dependent on the Protocol row being resolved.
Ahead of Mr Cleverly’s talks with Mr Sefcovic today, Downing Street said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak remained ‘hopeful’ of a deal with Brussels.
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘We haven’t set any deadline apart from wanting to resolve it as swiftly as possible.
‘There are talks ongoing both at officials level and the Foreign Secretary is keeping in touch with his counterpart.’
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is heading to Brussels in an ongoing effort to settle a row with the EU over post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland
The Foreign Secretary will hold face-to-face talks with EU vice-president Maros Sefcovic, who is the bloc’s negotiator over the Northern Ireland Protocol
Unionists in Northern Ireland fear the Protocol has weakened their position as part of the United Kingdom
The spokesman added that reaching a ‘negotiated agreement’ over the Protocol row would be the PM’s ‘preference’.
But No10 did not rule out continuing with controversial legislation at Westminster – aimed at unilaterally overriding parts of the Protocol – if talks stalled.
The spokesman also played down the prospect of an imminent breakthrough during Mr Cleverly and Mr Sefcovic’s discussions this afternoon.
‘They’ve had a number of these conversations to check in on officials’ talks,’ he added.
‘The main differences is this is in-person rather than on the phone. I would say simply that it’s important to have face-to-face meetings from time to time.
‘It’s not linked to any specific moment in the discussions.’
While Mr Cleverly is in Brussels today, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is holding talks with Stormont parties in the latest bid to restore a power-sharing executive in Belfast.
The DUP are continuing to block the functioning of Stormont’s institutions in the absence of reforms to the Protocol.
Last week, Mr Heaton-Harris cut the pay of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly by 27.5 per cent to reflect the fact they are not doing their jobs as legislators.
If a new executive is not formed by 19 January, the UK Government will assume a legal responsibility to call a snap Assembly election by 13 April.
The Protocol was designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
But Britain has attacked the EU for being too rigid in its implementation of the Brexit agreement, such as the imposition of ‘bureaucratic’ checks on goods moving across the Irish Sea.
Unionists in Northern Ireland also fear the Protocol has weakened their position as part of the UK.
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