Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, Ireland's Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, Minister of State for Northern Ireland Steve Baker and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris hold a news conference, during the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London, Britain, on October 7, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls
London: The UK and European Union appear to be making inroads on disagreements over Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland as they restart talks with concessions and declarations of "humility.”
Senior ministers from both the UK and Irish governments met on Friday to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol and the upcoming anniversary of the region’s peace treaty, just a day after Prime Minister Liz Truss ditched the antagonistic rhetoric that became a hallmark of post-Brexit relations.
The EU and UK have been locked in stalemate over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade arrangement, with the UK introducing legislation to override the deal, leading to the bloc taking legal action. But the atmosphere has changed in recent weeks, with talks re-starting for the first time in eight months. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said Friday that the UK’s bill would become "redundant” if a negotiated settlement is reached before it’s passed.
Following a meeting in London on Friday, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the change in tone has come from the UK side. While he conceded an agreement is unlikely before the deadline for Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government to re-form at the end of October -- an election must be called if it doesn’t -- he said he hoped to make a "big step forward” by then.
"That can be a basis for reassuring particularly the unionist community,” he said. We want "a nil-all draw, where everybody can walk away feeling that they haven’t won or lost, but they can live with the outcome and a solution that allows Northern Ireland to move on.”
The shift comes after concessions on both sides -- first from the UK’s Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker apologizing with "humility” for his Conservative Party’s behavior during Brexit negotiations, and then from Ireland’s deputy premier Leo Varadkar, who this week said the protocol was a "little too strict”.
Even Truss has dialed-back her antagonism toward the EU and European leaders in recent days, insisting on Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron is a friend -- just two months after saying the "The jury’s out” on whether he was "friend or foe.”
The pair held talks in Prague, agreeing to work more closely on ensuring energy security in both countries and on tackling illegal migration.
Relations between the UK and France have not been easy in recent months. Just like her predecessor Boris Johnson, Truss had long cast doubt on France’s efforts to stop migrants trying to get to Britain in small boats across the English Channel.
But there was a marked change in tone toward France -- and the EU as a whole -- as Truss attended the first summit of the new "European Political Community.”
One EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in a speech to fellow leaders, Truss underlined the UK’s enduring relationship with continental Europe.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also met with Truss in Prague, told reporters that he was very happy with the signals he got from Truss on progress in the talks on Northern Ireland.
"Everybody wants to make this happen, that in a time of crisis we should not fight each other on this issue,” Rutte told reporters. "That is my optimistic feeling.”
"Political leadership is about making things happen and sometimes surprising people,” Coveney said on Friday. "That’s what we need to do over the next few weeks, to provide reassurance.”
