Agreement On Data Sharing Could Pave Way To Substantive Brexit Talks-FT

Following talks between European Commission VP Maros Sefcovic, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, and UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris on 9 Jan, both sides have agreed to the implementation of data-sharing IT system that allows the live monitoring of goods being transported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

• A stock take of the operation will take place on 16 January. If deemed successful, it could be the first step in the path towards an agreement on the Northern Ireland protocol. Both sides seeking a deal by April, the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement.
• Peter Foster at the FT: "[UK PM Rishi Sunak and Heaton-Harris] have definitely shifted the mood with Brussels on NI Protocol negotiations. Officials say an agreement on data sharing looks likely to pave way to "substantive discussions" [...] on outstanding issues."
• Foster: "All that said both sides are talking about a "step by step" approach and expectations of a "big bang" deal [...]are reasonably low, certainly before the Jan 19 deadline for fresh elections in Northern Ireland. It remains the case that any foreseeable deal between the EU and UK is going to fall short of the DUP's "7 Tests" and the kind of maximalist re-write demands on the face of the NI Protocol Bill...but that doesn't mean it couldn't contain a lot of UK wins."