Brussels has warned that leaks of sensitive UK-EU talks on reforming Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements could endanger a compromise deal between the two sides.
The intervention comes as British prime minister Rishi Sunak considers whether he can sell a potential deal on the Northern Ireland protocol, part of the Brexit agreement, to his MPs and pro-UK parties in the region.
Sunak will have a big task promoting any compromise with Brussels to Conservative MPs and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party and media reports about a putative deal have complicated that task.
In a sign of potential trouble ahead, Lord David Frost, the former Brexit minister and a leading Eurosceptic Conservative, accused Sunak of giving Brussels the upper hand in negotiations on the protocol.
The European Commission urged the bloc’s member states not to leak details of the UK-EU talks, saying they could “endanger the whole process”, according to a summary of a meeting on Wednesday of EU ambassadors.
The commission briefed the national representatives that negotiations needed “sufficient space, time and discretion because of the high sensitivities on both sides and the current situation within the UK government”, said the summary, in an apparent reference to the pressure on Sunak.
Commission officials reassured EU member states that any compromise deal would be based on the Northern Ireland protocol and the need to “make it work in practice” rather than radically reshape it.
Downing Street on Wednesday denied a report in The Times that a deal with Brussels had been agreed on the protocol, saying there was much work remaining regarding post-Brexit trading arrangements for the region.
“There is still lots of work to do on all areas, with significant gaps remaining between the UK and EU positions,” said Sunak’s spokesman.
Ursula von der Leyen, commission president, struck an upbeat note on the UK-EU talks, which are focused on reducing friction on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The region remains part of the EU single market for goods.
Von der Leyen said the talks were “very constructive” but were ongoing, adding that she had a “very trusted and excellent relationship” with Sunak.
Eurosceptic Tory MPs in the European Research Group and the DUP want to remove the internal trade border within the UK at Irish Sea ports. Eurosceptic Conservatives also want to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Frost claimed Sunak was negotiating with the EU “with a weaker hand” than necessary.
In a foreword to a report by Policy Exchange, a think-tank, Frost said Sunak had removed a negotiating tool with Brussels by “effectively abandoning” the government’s Northern Ireland protocol bill, which would unilaterally rewrite that part of the Brexit deal.
Several people close to the UK-EU negotiations said the bloc had agreed in principle to a system of “red and green lanes” to reduce checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but that talks were continuing regarding the scope of the arrangements.
Goods crossing the Irish Sea and intended for sale on UK territory in Northern Ireland would pass through a green lane with reduced physical checks, backed by real-time customs data. Goods destined for the Republic of Ireland and the EU would enter via a red lane and face full customs and regulatory checks.
Some British officials have indicated the UK could be prepared to accept a continuing but reduced role for the ECJ in Northern Ireland.
But Downing Street rejected reports that disputes could be heard in Northern Ireland courts first, before possibly being referred up to Luxembourg.
In its push for a major overhaul of Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements, the DUP has blocked a resumption of the region’s devolved government since elections in May last year.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP leader, stuck to his demand for “arrangements that reinstate NI’s place in the UK internal market and respect our constitutional position”, writing on Twitter that London and Brussels “know that political progress” needed unionist support.
Just as Sunak has to contend with demands from Eurosceptic Tories, the DUP is under pressure from its hardline rival, the Traditional Unionist Voice.
Additional reporting by Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe in London