UK PM Sunak says potential deals over Northern Ireland protocol must address EU's role

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said any potential deal with the European Union over the Northern Ireland protocol must address the issue of the region being subject to the bloc’s rules. This comes amidst ongoing talks between the UK and the EU to resolve the issues surrounding the post-Brexit arrangement.

Sunak told parliament on Wednesday that he considered the concerns raised by the leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party Jeffrey Donaldson over the post-Brexit trade agreement text. Sunak said he heard Donaldson’s concerns “loud and clear.”

“He raised the question of practical issues and it is vital that these are addressed but he also raises…a vital question about the constitutional and legal framework in which these arrangements exist and I can assure him that I agree,” Sunak told lawmakers. “Addressing the democratic deficit is an essential part of the negotiations that remain ongoing with the European Union…this is at the very heart of the issues that must be addressed.”

Sunak spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the phone on Tuesday, according to Sunak’s spokesperson. Both leaders will be speaking again in the coming days.

Foreign minister James Cleverly also spoke with lawmakers of the governing Conservative Party but did not give details on the possible deal with the EU, according to a lawmaker Michael Fabricant. Sky News reported that the possible deal would see the British government setting Northern Ireland’s state aid policy and VAT sales tax rates instead of Brussels.

Donaldson said on Tuesday that more work still needs to be done to reach an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol, telling Conservative lawmakers that while there is progress on the negotiations, the DUP remains concerned about the application of EU rules to goods produced in Northern Ireland.

“Essentially the most important thing was the continued application of EU law to product standards of Northern Ireland which was hugely problematic for Northern Ireland in terms of its biggest market, mainland GB,” said one person who attended the meeting.

Donaldson also told lawmakers that it was “quite wrong” for goods that are produced in the region and heading for the mainland to be subject to the bloc’s regulations as the rules may change over time and the region will still have to comply without any input in their creation.