An agreement on the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol could be reached ‘within a couple of weeks, European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič has said.
Speaking on Monday (7 November) at the biannual meeting of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA) in London, Šefčovič told parliamentarians that he did not believe the EU and the UK were “worlds apart” on the issue.
The impasse over the protocol has added to the political instability in Northern Ireland in recent months. The Democratic Unionist Party, which wants the protocol to be radically changed or scrapped, has blocked the formation of a new government in Belfast until its concerns about the protocol, which introduced customs checks on goods travelling from Britain to the island of Ireland, are addressed.
New elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly will now be held after the six-month deadline since the May polls passed to form a new devolved government.
“This is the area where we do not seek any political victory. We just want to solve the problem,” added Šefčovič.
“I believe it could be done if there is political will; I’m sure that we can sort it out really within a couple of weeks because both sides of our negotiating teams, we know these topics from all angles,” he said.
Britain to reclaim access to EU research programmes
London will Monday (7 November) urge Brussels to unblock access to European scientific programmes for British researchers, which it says is provided for in the post-Brexit trade deal.
The Assembly, which brings together 21 MPs and 14 Peers from the UK Parliament, and 35 MEPs from the European Parliament, was established under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to support post-Brexit cooperation and parliamentary scrutiny between the UK and EU.
After Boris Johnson and EU leaders’ often fractious relationship, Brussels had noted better relations during Liz Truss’s six-week government. It is unclear how her successor, Rishi Sunak, will approach EU-UK ties, though earlier indications are that matters related to Brexit will not be near the top of his government’s agenda.
Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had their first meeting on the margins of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt on Monday.
For his part, the UK’s new minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, said that it was the Rishi Sunak government’s “preference to resolve this through talks”. The UK government’s bill, which would give ministers the power to override the protocol unilaterally, is reaching its final stages in the House of Lords this week, though ministers have indicated that they will not rush it through into law.
But he repeated London’s criticism of the Commission’s decision to block UK access to the Horizon Europe research and development programme accusing the EU of having “politicised scientific co-operation by linking it with the Northern Ireland Protocol”.
“The UK’s participation would be a clear win-win for the UK and the EU, but the UK cannot wait much longer. The EU’s approach is causing intolerable uncertainty for our research and business communities,” he added.
While the EU executive has launched infringement proceedings against the UK over the protocol, the UK began its dispute proceedings over Horizon Europe, arguing that access to the programme was explicitly agreed in the TCA.
Addressing the assembly, Irish MEP Sean Kelly urged the Sunak government to ‘rebuild’ the UK’s international reputation by abandoning the protocol bill.
“We remain strongly against the Bill, but due to the internal political turmoil in the UK, we want to give space for discussions on joint solutions. The reality is that if the NIP Bill is passed, the EU will have no choice but to respond accordingly. This is not what anyone wants,” said Kelly.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
