UK-EU Northern Ireland protocol talks nearly done, says EU Brexit chief

The European Union’s Brexit chief said there was significant progress in the talks with the United Kingdom to resolve the dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol. The comments come ahead of the second consecutive day of talks with British ministers.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said the negotiations are almost done to reach a deal in a revised Northern Ireland Protocol. However, Sefcovic did not say when exactly the deal would be reached as he noted that the progress made in the negotiations so far did not mean that they were done with the talks just yet.

“We have made good progress…We can clearly see the finishing line. But in such a negotiation, being close doesn’t mean being done,” said Sefcovic.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also said both sides made progress and that there should be time for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to finalize an agreement with the bloc.

“I can’t say whether or not we’ll have an agreement this week. I know that a huge amount of progress has been made in terms of coming to an agreement on the protocol,” said Varadkar during a news briefing in Dublin.

“I know that Prime Minister Sunak wants to consult with his party, wants to consult with the parties in Northern Ireland and I think it’s really important that we allow some time and space for that to happen and avoid any commentary that might make it more difficult for this to be agreed.”

Sunak has ramped up talks in recent days with Northern Ireland’s pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, whose support is crucial for the deal with the EU to work. Sunak has also sought to ease the concerns of pro-Brexit Conservatives on any potential deal with the bloc.

On the same day, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told members of the UK’s governing Conservative Party that even though progress was made in the talks with the bloc, the DUP is still concerned about the implementation of some EU laws or regulations to goods produced in Northern Ireland.

Donaldson told the Conservatives that it was “quite wrong” for goods made in Northern Ireland to be subject to EU regulations as those rules may change over time, and Northern Ireland would still have to comply with them without any input.