The head of British diplomacy said on Tuesday that he saw “improvements” in discussions with the European Union on post-Brexit controls in Northern Ireland, a British province paralyzed by a political crisis.
“Discussions take place in good faith, in a very discreet way and this discretion, I believe, has helped us to achieve real improvements”said James Cleverly in front of a research center in Washington.
“We want to get a result as quickly as possible”he added while declining any prognosis on the outcome of the discussions.
Negotiated at the same time as the Brexit treaty, the Northern Irish protocol effectively keeps Northern Ireland, which has the only British land border with the EU, in the single European market.
The text aims both to preserve the 1998 peace agreement, which ended three decades of bloody conflict, by avoiding the return of a hard border, and to protect the integrity of the single European market.
But the unionists of the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party), see in the controls on the goods coming from Great Britain a threat on the place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and boycott of this fact the local institutions .
They require at least profound modifications to the Northern Irish protocol.
Mr Cleverly discussed the matter later on Tuesday (January 17) with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, who shared the “unequivocal support” of the United States to the so-called Good Friday Agreement.
The deal “the past 25 years has been fundamental to preserving the peace, stability and prosperity of the people of Northern Ireland”Mr. Blinken said at a joint press conference.
“The United States believes that there must be a negotiated settlement on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol that is acceptable to all parties and we are encouraged that over the past few days the United Kingdom and the European Union have made substantial progress” , he added.
The discussions aim “to ensure that part of my country is able to play a significant role for my country. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom »said the top British diplomat.
