Enlarge image
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described the agreement in principle with the EU Commission on changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol as a "breakthrough".
It opens a "new chapter" in relations with the European Union, said Sunak.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of a "historic" agreement.
According to Sunak, the new "Windsor Framework Agreement" provides for significant simplifications in the goods controls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland required by Brussels.
This applies in particular to food and medicines.
Von der Leyen emphasized that the compromise meets the key demands of the EU: Firstly, "no hard border" on the island of Ireland, as provided for in the almost 25-year-old Good Friday Agreement.
Secondly, the protection of the EU internal market is guaranteed by a number of precautions.
As Sunak has now announced, the British Parliament should have a say in the changes: "It will vote in due course and that will be respected," he assured.
Sections of Sunak's conservative Tory party and the Unionists in Northern Ireland had warned him against making too many concessions to the EU.
The EU countries still have to agree.
German economy is relieved
The Northern Ireland Protocol has regulated the status of the British province since Brexit a good three years ago.
According to the agreement, Northern Ireland will remain a de facto part of the European single market even after Britain has left the EU.
Great Britain, however, resisted the customs controls on goods exports demanded by Brussels.
The agreement provides relief in the export-oriented German economy.
This is urgently needed to stop the negative trend in the UK business, said Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).
»The UK’s exit from the EU has made close trade relations significantly more difficult in recent years – and there is still considerable planning and legal uncertainty for German companies.«
While Great Britain was still Germany's third most important export market in 2016, the country was only in eighth place in 2022.
British plans to deviate from EU rules, for example in data protection, food or chemicals, are dangerous.
til/AFP/Reuters