MNI: EU Officials See ‘Window Of Opportunity’ With UK on NIP

European Union officials believe that the advent of a new UK government, a tough line from the White House and political optics around next year’s 25th anniversary of the April 1998 Good Friday Agreement could provide a window of opportunity to broker a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol in coming weeks.

While the role of the European Court of Justice in enforcing the NIP remains a sore point in EU-UK relations and was one trigger for the Northern Ireland bill currently making its way through the House of Lords, EU officials say that there is still scope for a compromise that will ease trade flows between Northern Ireland and UK.

“The UK side is talking about Green Lanes, we are talking about Express Lanes, surely we have to be able to find somewhere in-between,” one Brussels source told MNI, adding that EU access to UK-NI trade flow data will be key to provide reassurance that Europe’s Single Market will be safeguarded.

“Then we can relax,” the official added.

TALKS INTENSIFY

European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly are due to meet on Monday in the wake of talks between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Liz Truss in New York Wednesday.

“There is a clear window of work between now and the next deadline [Oct 28] for the appointment of a new Northern Ireland Executive and we think a solution can be found in that timeframe,” a source close to talks said, though ruling out that the EU would discuss the role of the ECJ.

Pressure from the Biden White House, encouraged by the U.S. Irish lobby, is also feeding EU confidence that a deal can be done, with officials in Brussels pointing to dimming hopes for a UK-U.S. Free Trade deal as pushing the UK towards concessions.

EU sources say Sefocvic is committed to getting a deal and moving beyond that to a campaign to promote investment in Northern Ireland and demonstrate the commercial advantages which the Protocol brings to the province.

“There are reasons to be optimistic we can find a solution,” said another EU source.

One Downing Street source said there was certainly a better sense of optimism in London that an agreement could be reached, but any deal needed a clear political will 'on both sides'.