2 years ago
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The UK and EU are engaged in a long-standing dispute over the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.
The arrangements - known as the protocol - keep Northern Ireland aligned to EU product standards in order to avoid introducing checks on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
It also puts in place checks on goods moving from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland.
The existence of the protocol has caused tension in Northern Ireland, but reaching a viable solution requires finding an agreement that can satisfy all the interested groups.
So where does each side stands and what do they want?
UK government
- Boris Johnson's government wants to change parts of the protocol, which forms part of the deal it negotiated with the EU in 2019
- Ministers hope that making changes to the agreement will persuade the DUP to return to government in Northern Ireland
- Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says she wants to reach a consensus with the EU, but will act unilaterally through legislation if a resolution cannot be reached
- Her proposed changes include allowing products moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to be fast tracked through 'green lanes' to ensure they are not subject to the same checks as goods destined for Ireland in the EU
- She also wants to allow businesses in Northern Ireland to choose between meeting UK or EU standards in a new dual regulatory regime
- The UK wants to scrap the European Court of Justice's role in overseeing the deal in favour of an alternative "dispute resolution process"
- And it says the UK should have more freedom to set VAT rates in Northern Ireland
The EU
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,Slovakian diplomat Maros Šefčovič is leading negotiations for the EU
- The EU has warned the UK against unilaterally changing the protocol saying it would undermine trust between the two sides
- If the UK does make changes, the EU says it will "need to respond with all measures at its disposal"
- The bloc has proposed reducing checks on products coming into Northern Ireland, but not eliminating them altogether
- In exchange, it wants safeguards to stop goods moving from Great Britain into the Republic of Ireland such as the UK giving the EU full access to its IT systems
- The EU has dismissed the UK's proposal to remove the European Court of Justice's role from the protocol
DUP
Image source, PA Media
Image caption,DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson with party colleagues
- Campaigned for Leave in the Brexit referendum
- In recent elections, the DUP campaigned on a pledge of removing the Northern Ireland Protocol
- They believe the protocol undermines Northern Ireland's constitutional status as it has created an internal UK border down the Irish Sea
- The party's manifesto laid out seven tests for any special Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland which amounted to fundamental changes to the protocol
- These include no checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
- The party is blocking the restoration of power sharing in Northern Ireland in protest over the protocol - and says it wants to see "action not words" from the UK government
Sinn Féin
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,Sinn Féin leaders Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill after meeting Boris Johnson
- Campaigned for Remain
- The largest party following the 5 May elections, it wants to see the immediate restoration of power-sharing
- Sinn Féin says the protocol is necessary following Brexit
- The party says it gives Northern Ireland access to both the EU and British markets, protects the Good Friday Agreement and prevents a hard border on the island of Ireland
- The party agrees there are practical issues related to the operation of the protocol, but any solutions must be made through talks between the UK government and the EU
- They do not support any prospect of unilateral action by the UK government.
Alliance
Image source, PA Media
Image caption,Alliance party leader Naomi Long also met with the UK prime minister
- Campaigned for Remain
- It wants to see the immediate restoration of power-sharing
- On the protocol, it acknowledges the need for flexibility but blames Brexit rather than the EU for Northern Ireland's latest problems
- Alliance said mutually agreed, sustainable and legal solutions to the challenges posed are needed
- It argues there's no reason the Stormont executive shouldn't get up and running while issues like the protocol are dealt with in parallel
UUP
Image source, PA Media
Image caption,Doug Beattie leads the Ulster Unionist Party
- Campaigned for Remain
- It wants to see the immediate restoration of power-sharing
- The party is against the protocol
- It said there can be no border in the Irish Sea and wants to see the removal of checks of goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
- It said it was "regretful" that the UK may move unilaterally to change it, but the "stand-off cannot continue"
SDLP
Image source, PA Media
Image caption,SDLP leader Colum Eastwood with other members of his party
- Campaigned for Remain
- It wants to see the immediate restoration of power-sharing
- The party acknowledges there are a "small amount of issues with the protocol that remain outstanding"
- But it says issues need to be sorted through negotiations between the UK and EU
- It does not back unilateral action by the UK government.
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