(Bloomberg) — The U.K. is open to agreeing interim solutions with the EU on the future of Northern Ireland in early 2022, a softening of its stance in a dispute that has overshadowed their post-Brexit relationship.
The British government is willing to consider a staged approach where the two sides strike an interim agreement on the most acute problems in Northern Ireland, according to a person familiar with the U.K.’s position. Those issues include the bureaucratic burden faced by traders moving goods from the rest of the U.K. into Northern Ireland and the frequency of customs checks on food products.
Previously, Britain wanted to simultaneously solve all post-Brexit issues affecting the region, but is now open to coming back to some questions in future. The shift in the U.K.’s stance is another sign that it won’t imminently walk away from the talks with the EU, after fears last month that it was set to unilaterally suspend the Brexit deal concerning Northern Ireland, which may have provoked a trade war.
Bloomberg News reported earlier this week that the talks were set to extend into 2022, as the negotiators make slow progress on issues such as the customs checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea.
A condition of the interim agreement would be that the European Court of Justice does not settle disputes between the U.K. and EU, either now or in future, according to the person familiar with the U.K. position, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Britain and the EU are close to an agreement on the flow of medicines into Northern Ireland and the issue is due to be discussed Friday when U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic have their latest stock-take call. Little progress has been made in the negotiations on the issues of customs and the role of the ECJ in the protocol’s governance.
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