After years of dispute, the EU and Great Britain have reached a compromise on the trade regime for Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has wrested substantial concessions from Brussels – even if the deal does not meet all of the Northern Ireland Unionists’ demands.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on new Brexit rules for Northern Ireland with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday.
Since the Brexit vote in June 2016, the trade regime for Northern Ireland has been one of the biggest points of contention. On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tried to draw a final line under the dispute at a meeting in Windsor. They agreed on the “Windsor Framework”, which corrects the content of the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiated by Boris Johnson in 2019 – but for Sunak it is still associated with considerable domestic political risks.