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LONDON – Whisper it softly, but the Brexit endgame has arrived.
Eighteen months after Brussels and London resumed talks over the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol – and more than three years after Britain actually left the EU – nervous officials on both sides of the English Channel are following reports of a technical-level deal. As in trying to manage expectations. emerges between the two sides.
“They are still making calls with the EU, but it’s really just pieces of text from lawyers,” a senior British government official said on Wednesday, in reference to Britain’s negotiating team. “We’re done.”
Multiple reports suggest that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak now has a draft tech deal on his desk for consideration despite a wave of denials, both official and unofficial, from politicians and diplomats on all sides.
“I suspect it’s more a technicality of the deal than a as per“Which is probably giving them room to deny it,” said a second person close to the talks on the UK side.
Even after Wednesday night the denials of the outright agreement were still coming thick and fast The Times reported that London and Brussels had in fact reached an agreement on the major customs and governance disputes that have negotiated the protocol. Importantly – and most controversially – its front-page story suggested that the EU has based its top court’s role in resolving future disputes.
before then Reporting by Bloomberg News late last week Technical-level solutions on customs, state aid and checks were really far away.
Talks have been ongoing on streamlining the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol since the summer of 2021, with negotiators targeting a deal this month, ahead of a possible visit to Ireland by US President Joe Biden in April.
The protocol arrangement, agreed as part of the Brexit divorce deal, sees Northern Ireland continue to adhere to EU customs union and single market rules, in an effort to avoid a politically sensitive hard border with the neighboring Republic of Ireland. , of which the European Union remains a member state.
Yet Northern Ireland’s unionist politicians have long objected to the protocol, with the Democratic Unionist Party boycotting power-sharing and arguing that screening goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland effectively separates the region from the UK. What sets it apart from the rest of the album, they are supported by critics. Those in Sunak’s governing Conservative Party are angered by the EU Court of Justice’s place in the protocol regime.
selling a deal to those home audiences represents a powerful political challenge For a prime minister who is already struggling to keep his fractured party together.
official line
Officially, both the sides are sticking to the script and insisting that talks continue.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Wednesday: “I am very sorry, but I cannot give partial elements – because you never know what the package looks like.”
In Downing Street, Sunak’s official spokesman tried to dissuade journalists from “speculative” reporting.
“No deal has been agreed, there is still much work to be done in all areas, with significant gaps remaining between the UK and EU positions,” the spokesman said. “Talks are underway on possible solutions, including freight.”
But the senior UK official quoted earlier said the message from Number 10 that talks are ongoing only applies at the political level.
He said: “It is now up to the politicians to decide ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Sage could hold further technical talks with Ursula von der Leyen and [EU Brexit point-man] Maroš Šefčovič and other things like that, but the officials’ job is done. It is plain as day.
Sunak has been receiving regular updates on the evolving technical shape of the deal, according to another person close to the talks.
“As far as I know, he hasn’t given the green light yet,” he said. “But it’s all quite ‘Secret Squirrel’ [U.K.] cabinet Office. So I don’t think many people will be completely in the loop.”
In Brussels and London, EU diplomats were busy dismissing reports of an imminent resolution, while acknowledging that information on the status of the game was being kept tight. European ambassadors were told on Wednesday morning that there has been no breakthrough yet, and the issue of the CJEU remains particularly tricky.
Claims and counterclaims were flying in the wings even within Britain. Another British official involved with the talks said it was “absolutely wrong”. [that a deal] is close,” with outstanding “fundamental” issues “including making sure there are no limits.” They would not, the person said, “expect anything in the short term.”
An EU diplomat summed up the mood: “If anyone tells you they know what’s happening, they’re lying.”
In fact, a final Brexit deal has never looked so close.