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Britain and the European Union struck a landmark agreement on Monday to end a dispute over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, potentially resolving one of the most poisonous legacies of Britain’s exit from the EU in 2020.
The agreement could have far-reaching economic and political consequences: averting a trade war between Britain and the EU and making it simpler to ship goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
It could also remove a lingering irritant between Britain and the United States. President Biden had pressed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to negotiate an end to the impasse with Brussels. The deal could smooth the way for a visit by the president to London and Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of bloodshed known as the Troubles.
Mr. Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced the deal, which they called the “Windsor Framework”, after working out the final terms at a meeting in Windsor.
The deal is a risk for Mr. Sunak, opening him up to a backlash from Brexit hard-liners in his Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, which has campaigned to rewrite the trade rules rather than simply modify them.
The Democratic Unionists reserved judgment, saying they needed to read the legal text. The party’s leader said, “It is clear that significant progress has been secured across a number of areas whilst also recognizing there remain key issues of concern.”
Northern Ireland’s trade rules have become a totemic issue for Brexiteers and unionists because of the territory’s unique status. It is part of the UK but shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU and its single market.
The rules, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, were negotiated as part of Britain’s departure from the EU three years ago. They were designed to avoid customs checks at the land border with the Republic of Ireland. But the rules alienated the unionists, the largely Protestant part of Northern Ireland which wants to remain in the United Kingdom, by creating obstacles to trade with the rest of Britain.
The new agreement eliminates many of the bureaucratic hurdles that burdened businesses in Northern Ireland and harmed consumers because some exporters in Britain were no longer willing to fill out the paperwork to ship goods there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/world/europe/uk-eu-northern-ireland.html
The agreement could have far-reaching economic and political consequences: averting a trade war between Britain and the EU and making it simpler to ship goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
It could also remove a lingering irritant between Britain and the United States. President Biden had pressed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to negotiate an end to the impasse with Brussels. The deal could smooth the way for a visit by the president to London and Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of bloodshed known as the Troubles.
Mr. Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced the deal, which they called the “Windsor Framework”, after working out the final terms at a meeting in Windsor.
The deal is a risk for Mr. Sunak, opening him up to a backlash from Brexit hard-liners in his Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, which has campaigned to rewrite the trade rules rather than simply modify them.
The Democratic Unionists reserved judgment, saying they needed to read the legal text. The party’s leader said, “It is clear that significant progress has been secured across a number of areas whilst also recognizing there remain key issues of concern.”
Northern Ireland’s trade rules have become a totemic issue for Brexiteers and unionists because of the territory’s unique status. It is part of the UK but shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU and its single market.
The rules, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, were negotiated as part of Britain’s departure from the EU three years ago. They were designed to avoid customs checks at the land border with the Republic of Ireland. But the rules alienated the unionists, the largely Protestant part of Northern Ireland which wants to remain in the United Kingdom, by creating obstacles to trade with the rest of Britain.
The new agreement eliminates many of the bureaucratic hurdles that burdened businesses in Northern Ireland and harmed consumers because some exporters in Britain were no longer willing to fill out the paperwork to ship goods there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/world/europe/uk-eu-northern-ireland.html
