The UK hinted that it’s willing to allow the European Court of Justice to retain a role of some sort in Northern Ireland, suggesting a compromise on the most difficult issue in its long-running post-Brexit dispute with the European Union.
(Bloomberg) — The UK hinted that it’s willing to allow the European Court of Justice to retain a role of some sort in Northern Ireland, suggesting a compromise on the most difficult issue in its long-running post-Brexit dispute with the European Union.
“We don’t think it’s right to have a situation where across all areas it is only the ECJ that has a view. That position has not changed. The details of that are subject to negotiation,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman Max Blain told reporters on Thursday.
Bloomberg reported last month that the UK was seeking to break a deadlock over the court’s position by allowing it to retain its role in Northern Ireland while watering down its powers. Any potential fudge would be a climbdown from the UK’s previous position, which was to scrap the ECJ in its entirety.
UK and EU officials are close to proposing an agreement at technical level on trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, Bloomberg reported last week. Sunak is preparing to sell the deal to unionists in Northern Ireland and pro-Brexit MPs in his own party, who are particularly opposed to the ECJ’s role in disputes for the region. Any deal is likely to become redundant without their endorsement.
Read More: Sunak Steps Onto Political Tightrope With N. Ireland Brexit Deal
Under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK agreed to ECJ oversight of disputes over Northern Ireland as part of its wider Brexit deal with the EU. The provision angered hard-line Brexiteers in the European Research Group of Conservative MPs, as well as pro-UK lawmakers in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party who want to protect the integrity of the UK.
Those groups still pose a risk for Sunak, whose unruly governing party may become more fractured if they don’t accept compromises made in negotiations. Any proposal that allows the ECJ to retain jurisdiction in Northern Ireland would be unacceptable, two ERG MPs told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
But while the court’s role is a political issue for the UK, it’s a legal red line for the EU, who says it must retain a role anywhere that operates in its single market — which Northern Ireland does.
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