Brexit data deal to ease impasse on Protocol

All parties galvanised as April deadline for UK-EU deal on Northern Ireland trade is back in play

The UK and EU yesterday hailed a breakthrough in Brexit talks over the Northern Ireland Protocol which will unlock wider, intensive negotiations over the Irish Sea border. The accord gives fresh impetus to the race to reach a Protocol deal before an unofficial April 10 deadline. The Government and Brussels struck a mini-deal on the thorny issue of EU access to UK databases on trade flows of goods and animals from Britain to Northern Ireland during talks in London.

THE UK and EU yesterday hailed a breakthrough in Brexit talks over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has unlocked intensive negotiations regarding the Irish Sea border.

The progress has given fresh impetus to the race to reach a Protocol deal before the unofficial April 10 deadline, which is the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Joe Biden, the US president, has warned that he will not attend the celebrations of the peace deal unless a Protocol accord has been struck.

However, there was fresh hope after talks in London yesterday saw the Government and Brussels strike a mini-deal on the thorny issue of EU access to UK databases on trade flows of goods and animals from Britain to Northern Ireland. “This means a new basis for EU-UK discussions on the Protocol,” said Maros Sefcovic, the EU’S chief negotiator. “We share the same focus – finding the best outcome for Northern Ireland.”

“Today’s progress on data sharing marks a positive step in discussions on the Northern Ireland Protocol,” said James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary.

“This work was a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance,” a joint statement agreed by the two negotiators added. “EU and UK technical teams will work rapidly to scope the potential for solutions in different areas on the basis of this renewed understanding.”

There remain deep divisions, including the continued role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.

Mr Cleverly, Mr Sefcovic and Chris Heaton-harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, are now expected to talk again on Jan 16, which suggests a return to weekly talks after months of deadlock. Both sides said there would now be intensive negotiations to bridge other areas of disagreement over the treaty, which introduced border checks on British goods to prevent a hard Irish border after Brexit.

Agreement on database access is vital to lay the groundwork for an eventual Protocol deal based on removing border checks in exchange for bolstered market surveillance. Brussels wants the access to better police British goods crossing the invisible land border from Northern Ireland into Ireland. The Government wants to cut the border checks on British goods crossing the Irish Sea.

London argues the checks are too burdensome because many goods and animals do not cross the border into the Iorish Republic, an EU member.

The European Commission had demanded real time access to trade flow data from Britain to Northern Ireland. Sources said they were now satisfied with the quality of access after there was disagreement over whether the information was in real time or provided by companies or the Government.

Technical talks between officials over the database had continued since UK-EU relations improved after the resignation of Boris Johnson.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign secretary, welcomed the news. He will travel to Brussels today for talks with the commission.

Any eventual deal will also need to have the support of the DUP, which has boycotted the restoration of Stormont after May 2021 elections because of its opposition to the Protocol. Last night, a DUP spokesman said, “The Protocol caused the collapse of the NI Executive, it must be replaced with arrangements that restore our place in the UK. This is not a time for sticking plasters.”

“I am committed to the restoration of Stormont, but such a restoration can only be durable if it is built on solid foundations which are supported by unionists and nationalists,” DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said after a phone call with Mr Martin yesterday.

Mr Heaton-harris will meet Northern Ireland’s major political parties tomorrow. He has said he will call fresh

‘Technical teams will work rapidly to scope potential solutions on basis of this renewed understanding’

Assembly elections on Jan 19 unless power-sharing is restored. Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, is also expected in Belfast before next week’s deadline.

However, the database breakthrough will raise expectations that the deadline will be extended to April 13, three days after Mr Biden’s planned visit for the Good Friday Agreement anniversary.