The European Parliament’s International Trade Committee and businesses and politicians in Northern Ireland are trying to break the political deadlock there. It was the first time in seven months that the thread had been lifted again. ‘That in itself is positive’, said European reporter Stefan de Vries.

Relations in Northern Ireland have been strained since Prime Minister Liz Truss – then Foreign Minister – said she wanted to review the Brexit agreement. The treaty states, among other things, that Northern Ireland has special EU status, but with the desire to abolish it, it creates all sorts of difficulties in trade through Northern Ireland’s borders.

Now that Truss is prime minister, the situation has not changed. That is also the conclusion of European reporter Stefan de Vries. “This is the first time in seven months the EU and the UK are meeting again, so that’s positive.”

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De Vries emphasizes that the true nature of conflict lies at state borders. ‘Between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the European Union. Northern Ireland is physically located on the island of Ireland, which returns to the European Union, and is separate from Great Britain. And it’s actually been a very difficult situation since the start of Brexit six years ago.’

De Vries saw that a stalemate had been reached; Europe is not going out. ‘It’s cut and done; they thought they had signed a clear agreement, but the British are now saying that something else must be found.’

Northern Ireland Protocol

According to De Vries, the Northern Ireland Protocol also played a major role in this situation. The protocol was created by the EU and the UK to improve workability from difficult situations. ‘And the real result is that Northern Ireland has one leg in the EU. As for goods, yes,” he continued. But the other leg belongs to Britain, which means that Northern Ireland is no longer part of the European Union. ‘The British government doesn’t like the relationship, even though they have signed the treaty themselves. And Liz Truss now wants to negotiate. back that protocol.’

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From a legal point of view, however, England have no legs to stand on, De Vries thought. ‘Truss wanted something different, but the bottom line is: the agreement has been signed. And Europe knows that, Brussels knows that Britain can’t do anything legally. But they also didn’t want to provoke conflict, so now the negotiations were back on. However, it remains a difficult situation.’

Company, not Truss

According to De Vries, the reason the EU is in talks with companies and not with Prime Minister Truss, for example, is because they ‘get the wind straight from the front’. ‘They’re distracted by protocol, because they’re between the hammer and the anvil. Half in the EU, half not.’ And it also caused internal unrest, as part of Northern Irish politics wanted to stay with Britain. ‘They are Unionists, but for the first time the Catholic Sinn Feín wants to join Ireland. They are also in government, and have little interest in living with England.’

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So the EU also has to deal with internal political issues in Northern Ireland, so Europeans have to be ‘very careful’ to resolve the situation. ‘They really have to walk on eggshells to deal with this situation’, concludes De Vries. ‘Every time Europeans join Britain, but what they want remains unclear.’