Brexit: UK and EU in NI Protocol ‘stock-taking’ meeting
Posted by Jim on February 21, 2022
By John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics & Business EditorPublished4 hours agocommentsCommentsShareRelated Topics
The body which oversees the Northern Ireland Protocol will meet in Brussels later as efforts continue to agree on how to implement the deal.
The Joint Committee is chaired by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič.
Their officials have been engaged in technical talks since October.
However there is not expected to be an announcement of a major breakthrough on Monday.
The protocol is the Brexit deal which prevents a hard Irish border by keeping Northern Ireland inside the EU’s single market for goods.
That also creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The EU accepts that is causing difficulties for businesses and in October proposed a package of measures to reduce its practical impacts.
In December it published further proposals aimed at guaranteeing the supply of medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
The UK wants more far-reaching changes to the protocol’s operation and governance.
The talks are understood to have made some progress in trying to find ways to reduce the burden of customs paperwork on Northern Ireland businesses.
But in other areas, like agri-food, there are still large differences.
Mrs Truss described Monday’s meeting as a stock-taking exercise.
“I will be outlining to EU member states the importance of finding solutions that protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions,” she said.
“It is important we all work together to preserve peace and stability in Northern Ireland, allowing us to focus on building a stronger relationship and focus on external issues, not least the situation in Eastern Europe and standing up to Russian aggression.”
Last week Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the meeting was likely to be a “staging post” for the two sides to issue a statement on progress so far.
Northern Ireland’s first and deputy first ministers normally attend the Joint Committee but those positions are vacant since the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) Paul Givan stepped down from the first minister’s post.
He resigned as part of the DUP’s campaign of opposition to the protocol.