March 1, 2023
2 mins read

Sunak visits Northern Ireland after sealing ‘historic’ EU deal

The agreement, which will allow goods to flow freely to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, could end a dispute that has soured its relations with the bloc…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Northern Ireland on Tuesday after the UK and European Union sealed a deal a day earlier to resolve their post-Brexit dispute over trade in the region.

Speaking on the BBC on Tuesday morning, Sunak said he believed “hand on heart” that “this agreement is going to make a huge difference” to businesses and people in Northern Ireland.

“That’s what I’m going to talk to people about today, listening to them and explaining how this deal is going to be positive.”

It aims to allow for smoother trade between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland, which was complicated by the old protocol negotiated in 2020 under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“I’m over the moon that yesterday we managed to have a decisive breakthrough with our negotiations with the EU,” Sunak said.

“The new Windsor framework that I think is an extraordinarily positive step for Northern Ireland and it represents […] a historic moment for us to move forward and resolve some of the difficulties of the past.”

The agreement, which will allow goods to flow freely to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, could end a dispute that has soured its relations with the bloc.

Now Sunak is waiting for the judgment of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which is boycotting the region’s power-sharing government until the trade arrangements are changed to its satisfaction.

The DUP collapsed Northern Ireland’s government a year ago, and it has asked authorities to lift customs controls on most products arriving in Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom.

Sunak said the new rules “removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea” by eliminating checks and paperwork for the vast majority of goods entering Northern Ireland.

Only those destined to travel onward to EU member Ireland will be checked.

The revised text also gives Northern Ireland’s devolved assembly the power to stop any forthcoming EU legislation that it considers to be inimical to regional interests.

“Today’s agreement delivers smooth-flowing trade within the whole United Kingdom, protects Northern Ireland’s place in our union and safeguards sovereignty for the people of Northern Ireland,” Sunak said.

Von der Leyen stressed that the EU’s borderless single market would be protected by safeguards including “IT access, labels and enforcement procedures” and said the European Court of Justice would remain “the sole and ultimate arbiter of EU law.”

The role of the European court in resolving any disputes that arise over the rules has been the thorniest issue in the talks.

The UK and the EU agreed in their Brexit divorce deal to give the European court that authority. But the DUP and Conservative Party Eurosceptics insist the court must have no jurisdiction in UK matters.

ALSO READ-Sunak declares new Brexit pact

Previous Story

Tension between Serbia, Kosovo over EU plan

Next Story

Private firms to supply jet fuel in Lanka

Latest from -Top News

Pakistan Slams IWT Move as ‘Act of War’

Islamabad also said that India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) will be considered as an “act of war”…reports Asian Lite News The high-level emergency meeting of Pakistan’s National Security

Modi: We’ll Hunt Them Down

The Prime Minister thanked nations that extended support to India in the aftermath of the terror attack…reports Asian Lite News In his first address after the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu

Moscow Steps Up Afghan Diplomacy

Russia sees a potential economic partner in the Taliban authorities, who praised Moscow for scrapping the “terrorism” label last week…reports Asian Lite News Russia has announced that it will elevate the Afghan

World leaders condemn Kashmir terror attack 

Strong messages of condemnation of the terror attack came from leaders in different parts of the world including the US, Russia, UAE, Israel, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka and Iran  World leaders strongly

India downgrades ties with Pakistan 

The decision — which also included the downgrading of diplomatic ties with Pakistan — came after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the PM   India on
Go toTop

Don't Miss

EU will not recognise Taliban if they gain power by force

On Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that in the

Kashmiri politicians brief EU about progress in local governance

Parliamentarians brief EU on empowering grassroots democracy. In the past