Dfruitful negotiations leading to a compromise. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (February 27th) welcomed “a new chapter” between London and the European Union thanks to the conclusion of an agreement on post- Brexit for Northern Ireland.
After months of tension and difficult negotiations, the two leaders announced the compromise at a press conference in Windsor, on the western outskirts of London. “The UK and the EU may have had differences in the past, but we are allies, trading partners and friends and we saw that clearly last year when we united with others to support Ukraine,” insisted Rishi Sunak.
“This is the start of a new chapter in our relations”, he continued, welcoming “a decisive step forward”. “I think what we agreed on today is historic,” added Ursula von der Leyen, also referring to “a new chapter”.
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Getting out of a dead end
This agreement provides “practical solutions” to the supply difficulties created by the Northern Irish protocol, which keeps the province in the single European market. To do this, it removes checks on goods coming from Great Britain as long as they are not intended to leave this province.READ ALSOLord Frost, Brexit’s lost soldier
It also limits the application of EU rules in Northern Ireland and the possibility of recourse to the European Court of Justice, crucial advances for those who saw the protocol as an attack on its place in the United Kingdom. On the political level, it is a question of getting this territory out of the impasse at the approach of the 25e anniversary, in April, of the peace accord that ended three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.
The agreement reached between London and the European Union constitutes an “important decision”, which will “protect” the European internal market, estimated Monday evening French President Emmanuel Macron. “I welcome this important decision, which will preserve the Good Friday Agreement and protect our European internal market,” the Head of State said on Twitter.
For his part, US President Joe Biden said the agreement represented “an essential step in ensuring that hard-won peace and progress” are “preserved and strengthened”. “I know that the people and businesses of Northern Ireland will take full advantage of the economic opportunities presented by this stability,” the Democrat said in a statement. “The United States stands ready to support the region’s significant economic potential. »
Earlier, John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, had also applauded the agreement, judging that it would “improve the prosperity of the European Union as well as the United Kingdom”. The United States is “grateful to both parties for having succeeded in finding” a compromise on this thorny issue, followed very closely by US President Joe Biden, he added.
An electric atmosphere in Northern Ireland
But in Northern Ireland, tensions remain high around this agreement. The main unionist party, the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is calling for the pure and simple end of the protocol. Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson said on Monday that “major areas of concern” persist. “Important progress has clearly been made on many issues, at the same time it must be recognized that there are still major areas of concern,” said Jeffrey Donaldson in a statement, adding that his party would now look into “the details” of the agreement before deciding whether or not to end his boycott of local institutions.READ ALSOElections in Northern Ireland: towards the rout of unionism?
The DUP has been blocking for a year the functioning of the local Parliament and the formation of an executive which would however have a lot to do with the current crisis in the cost of living. London has threatened to call local elections, risky for the DUP. In the last ballot, in 2022, he was already overtaken – a historic shift – by Sinn Fein, hostile to the domination of London.READ ALSOSinn Féin’s historic victory in Northern Ireland
For her part, the leader of the Republican party Sinn Fein, the majority in the Northern Irish Parliament, called on Monday for the resumption of local institutions. Welcoming the deal, Northern Irish Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill called on DUP Unionists, who have been boycotting local institutions for a year, to “join other parties and make political institutions work” in Northern Ireland .
A thorn in the side of the EU and Rishi Sunak
If Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen mentioned Monday the opening of a ” new chapter »is that this crisis kept London and the 27 in a state of perpetual negotiations on Brexit.
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In order to address Unionist concerns, the British government had begun to legislate to unilaterally reverse the protocol. Now abandoned, this possibility would have amounted for London to a violation of international law of the wrong kind at a time when Westerners seek to show themselves united in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
And Brussels had warned that this would lead to retaliation, raising the risk of a trade war and therefore the rising cost of imports. But inflation, at more than 10% (and much more for food), has already caused social unrest unprecedented since the 1980s, under Margaret Thatcher. After years of Brexit-related acrimony, the deal marks a return to confidence that began with Rishi Sunak’s arrival in Downing Street in October. A welcome relaxation ahead of the Conservative Prime Minister’s first visit to France on March 10.
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Rishi Sunak called to control his majority
With this agreement, Rishi Sunak could become the one who adapted Brexit to the realities, but the days to come are going to be delicate. After maintaining the vagueness, he confirmed that the agreement would be put to a vote by deputies, without specifying when. If the Labor opposition has already pledged its support, a major revolt within the Conservatives would be a blow to its authority. In recent months, the evictions of Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss from power have shown the difficulty of governing for a Prime Minister without majority control.
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Within the right wing, several voices have already deemed the concessions from Brussels insufficient. Boris Johnson expressed his displeasure, which immediately led to him being accused of plotting to return to power.
But the extent of the rebellion is uncertain and the possible wave of departures of ministers opposed to the agreement, once mentioned in the press, seems to have been avoided. And the Conservative Party, already at its lowest in the polls, can hardly take the risk of changing leadership for the third time in six months, while the next legislative elections are scheduled for next year.
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