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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor
Photo: DAN KITWOOD / AFP
The EU and Great Britain have settled the long-standing dispute over the Brexit regulations for Northern Ireland with a new agreement.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the agreement after a meeting in Windsor, west of London.
The new agreement provides for trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to run smoothly in the future, said Sunak.
Northern Ireland belongs to the United Kingdom - a border will no longer be noticeable, according to the Prime Minister.
The now amended Northern Ireland Protocol was originally negotiated as part of the Brexit deal.
It stipulates that the customs border between Great Britain and the EU runs in the Irish Sea.
This is to prevent border controls between British Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland having to be introduced.
Otherwise it was expected that the conflict about unifying the two parts of Ireland would flare up again.
But the controls caused difficulties in intra-British trade.
Union Protestant supporters in Northern Ireland feel cut off from Britain and are calling for change.
It is therefore now eagerly awaited whether the Northern Irish Protestant party DUP will accept the new agreement.
DUP boss Jeffrey Donaldson spoke of significant progress, but there are also "key issues that give cause for concern".
In protest against the regulations, the DUP has been blocking the formation of a regional government in Northern Ireland for months.
It is now under pressure to give up its political deadlock.
Labor wants to approve the deal
This and the reaction of the Brexit hardliners in his own party will likely determine whether Sunak has the political room for maneuver to push it through.
His predecessors Theresa May and Liz Truss and ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson had not been able to put an end to the dispute.
As Sunak announced, the British Parliament should have a say in the changes: "It will vote in due course and that will be respected," he assured.
Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labor Party, announced that his party would vote in favor of the deal.
In the lower house in the evening, Sunak addressed his critics and emphasized that he had taken their concerns into account and could understand their reservations.
However, concessions were wrested from the EU that had long been considered impossible.
The new deal - officially dubbed the Windsor Framework, according to where the agreement was reached - is "what many have said could not be achieved," the prime minister hailed.
Audience with the King
For von der Leyen, the evening continued with an audience with King Charles – which caused some frowns in Great Britain.
The monarch always strictly stays out of daily politics.
It is therefore considered unusual that he met von der Leyen on the very day that a controversial agreement with Brussels was concluded.
Critics accused Sunak of using the king for his purposes.
A spokesman for the prime minister, however, emphasized that the decision as to who the king receives lies solely with the palace.
aeh/dpa/Reuters