UK and EU appears to be on brink of new Brexit deal

• The UK and EU are nearing completion on a new Brexit agreement for Northern Ireland.
• Which could be called the Windsor Agreement.
• And feature a public appearance by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ms. von der Leyen.

A fresh Brexit agreement for Northern Ireland appears to be nearing completion between the UK and the EU.

The negotiations, according to a source at No. 10, are “promising.”

King Charles had also been scheduled to meet with the head of the European Commission on Saturday in the UK.

According to numerous reports, operational issues unrelated to the political negotiations caused the visit to be cancelled.

The scheduled meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and the King, which was first reported by media, was unrelated to talks between the UK and the EU.

The fact that a meeting was scheduled, however, is crucial since it seems to suggest that a Brexit deal was about to be completed and made public when Ms. von der Leyen was in the UK.

The president of the European Commission has not yet announced a visit to the UK.

Others had proposed that a new agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was believed to be almost finished, may be termed the Windsor Agreement and feature a public appearance by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ms. von der Leyen.

To avoid the necessity for border checks at the UK’s border with the Republic of Ireland, the protocol, which was agreed upon under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and entered into place in 2021, allowed Northern Ireland to continue to adhere to some EU regulations.

The prime minister made “excellent progress,” according to Downing Street, after speaking on the phone with Mr. Sunak and Ms. von der Leyen on Friday.

The leaders agreed to “address this further in the next days,” according to a source, who later stated that it had been “good” and that negotiations will move forward.

To make the choreography of an announcement work at a mutually suitable time and location, the UK and the EU must coordinate their schedules.

Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach of Ireland, told reporters on Saturday that although a Protocol agreement had not yet been reached, it was “inching towards a completion.”

“There is the possibility of agreement in the next few days but by no means guaranteed… there’s still a gap to be closed,” the premier said, according to reputed news agency.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has meanwhile cancelled a protracted-planned trip to the Middle East at the start of next week, heightening hopes that the UK and EU will make a formal statement within the next few days.

The DUP, however, and Conservative backbenchers have been at odds, and there have been numerous delays over the past week or so.

The prime minister has been making an effort to gain backing for modifications to the contentious procedure.

An earlier DUP source told the Media that the party had no meetings planned for the weekend and had not engaged in any discussions with the prime minister on Friday.

As the DUP is preventing the establishment of a devolved government in Northern Ireland, Mr. Sunak has been attempting to reach an agreement with the group.

The DUP’s shadow Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson MP, stated that his party would only agree to a deal if EU law “forced” on Northern Ireland was repealed.

He told media: “If the prime minster succeeds in getting that we will embrace it, but if he hasn’t succeeded in achieving that aim then as part of the UK we cannot accept it.”

Mr. Wilson said that “we expect British law should apply in Northern Ireland, not Brussels law imposed on us, with all the disastrous effects that has.”

Several Tory lawmakers have been pressuring the prime minister on Northern Ireland’s current responsibility to abide by some EU laws and answer to the European Court of Justice.

Eurosceptic Tory MP Sir John Redwood said: “The UK needs to hold out over the EU imposing laws on Northern Ireland. The EU needs to get the Unionists on side.”

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