Brussels [Belgium], February 28: Goods traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland - destined to stay in the Northern Ireland market - are to be free from custom checks, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday.
The new agreement between the European Union and the UK on post-Brexit trading rules has "removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea," Sunak said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met Sunak to seal the deal on the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol after weeks of political speculation and months of intense technical talks.
The protocol, which is part of Britain's agreement with the European Union to leave the bloc in 2020, created a de facto trade border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Irish sea.
This was to prevent the need for border controls between Northern Ireland and EU member Republic of Ireland that risked a resurgence of sectarian tensions but meant that Northern Ireland has still been part of the bloc's custom-free trading area post-Brexit.
The trade dispute became a major hurdle in the implementation of the Brexit agreement with pro-British Unionists in Northern Ireland, who felt it cut them off from the rest of the United Kingdom and tied the region to the EU's jurisdiction.
To assuage these concerns, Sunak also announced that any EU law that applies under the agreement "is the minimum necessary to avoid a hard border with [the Republic of] Ireland and allow Northern Irish businesses to continue accessing the EU market." A new safeguard is also included in the framework to allow Belfast to put a halt to any future EU laws from applying to Northern Ireland that would disrupt the region, Sunak said.
The main pro-British Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has wanted the trade border removed and has refused to restore a power-sharing agreement with Irish republican Sinn Fein, the main Catholic party.
The DUP's boycott means the regional parliament has been unable to meet and Northern Ireland has been without a regional government since elections in May 2022.
Negotiators from the EU and Britain have tried to find solutions to issues that have arisen since the post-Brexit treaty came into force in 2020.
Now both sides must see if the deal meets the seven criteria the DUP had set out to back a new agreement, including no border in the Irish Sea, no checks on goods moved between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and give Belfast an input into the laws that govern them.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson - who originally signed up to the Northern Ireland Protocol - and Liz Truss, his short-term successor, threatened to unilaterally terminate the protocol, but Sunak has struck a more constructive tone.
Von der Leyen said the deal struck on Monday between Brussels and London is to "address in a definitive way the issues faced in everyday lives." "It provides for long-lasting solutions that both of us are confident will work for all people and businesses in Northern Ireland," she said, speaking next to Sunak.
Von der Leyen said the agreement is to make sure that the same food and medicine is available in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Under the new agreement "people sending parcels to friends or family or doing their shopping online will have to complete no customs paperwork," Sunak said.
Other examples cited by Sunak for how people could benefit from the agreement included lower prices for beer and the removal of travel requirements for pets.
The commission president is later set to meet King Charles III.
Source: Qatar Tribune