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Šefčovič optimistic that deal on Northern Ireland can be reached by the end of the year

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European Commission Vice President Maros Šefčovič presented (14 October) what he described as a “package of enhanced opportunity” for Northern Ireland. The corollary of these proposals is that the UK needs to make sure its permanent border posts are up and running, “as agreed a long time ago”, as well as additional safeguards to monitor the supply chain.

The proposals follow extensive discussions with stakeholders, in particular Northern Ireland business through a Brexit Working Group. Šefčovič said the proposals addressed ‘elements’ of the UK’s command paper published in July 2021. Asked about Lord Frost’s recent speech in Lisbon, where he announces that the UK was proposing a new legal text to replace the protocol which removed the role of the European Court of Justice, Šefčovič said that access to the Single Market without supervision of the European Court of Justice was not possible and that the UK should focus on what stakeholders want, which he said was the resolution of practical issues. 

The package consists of four ‘non-papers’ and proposes further flexibilities in the area of food, plant and animal health, customs, medicines and engagement with Northern Irish stakeholders. On medicines, Šefčovič said that during his visit to Belfast in September, he committed to do “whatever it takes to guarantee the uninterrupted long-term supply of medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland”, saying that the Commission had turned its rules “upside down and inside out to find a solid solution to an outstanding challenge that involves the EU changing its own rules on medicines”. 

Šefčovič acknowledged that there have been some teething problems and that the papers address these issues. The proposed measures will amount to an 80% reduction in checks and a halving of customs formalities with “bespoke solutions”. The Commission presented its package to the UK-side in London yesterday. Šefčovič has invited Lord Frost for lunch on Friday, which he hopes will kick off an intensive process of discussion with the hope of reaching a deal before the end of the year: “We can start the new year with the new agreements, new rules in place, and finally focus on what I hope will be the future and that would be a new positive agenda for EU/UK relations.”

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