British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrives at the Guildhall in Windsor, England, on Feb. 27.TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reached a deal with the European Union to resolve one of the thorniest problems arising from Britain’s decision to leave the bloc: how to manage trade in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the “Windsor Framework” on Monday, an agreement that will govern the movement of goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland, something that bedevilled two previous prime ministers and led to a political stalemate in Belfast.
“I think today marks a turning point for Northern Ireland,” Mr. Sunak said during a news conference in Windsor, England.
Ms. von der Leyen said the framework would open a new chapter in U.K.-EU relations and ease tensions over Brexit. Monday’s announcement, she added, “provides for long-lasting solutions” that also protect the EU’s single market.
But the deal is far from final, and Mr. Sunak will now have to win over skeptics in his Conservative Party caucus and politicians in Northern Ireland who do not want the EU to have any role in the province’s affairs.
“There’s lots of running around saying, ‘This is a great success,’ but we haven’t seen any of the details,” said senior Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith, who has been a vocal critic of the current trade arrangements.
If it is finalized, the framework would be a significant achievement for Mr. Sunak and a major breakthrough in what has been a cantankerous relationship between the EU and the U.K. over the past seven years.
Ever since Britain voted to leave the bloc in 2016, both sides have struggled with how to manage commerce between Ireland, an EU member, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K.
Compounding matters has been the impact of Brexit on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence. The peace accord eliminated all border controls on the island and established a series of cross-community institutions, including a novel power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.
To keep the border open, the EU and the U.K. signed the Northern Ireland protocol in 2020, which effectively tied the province to most EU trade rules.
The protocol has yet to take full effect, but its powers were sweeping. It essentially meant that goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of Britain had to be checked by EU customs officials to ensure they complied with the bloc’s regulations. Even a parcel mailed in London to a friend in Belfast would require a full customs declaration.
The protocol infuriated unionists in Northern Ireland, who argued it cut the province off from the rest of Britain and caused havoc for businesses. They also worried that it marked a step toward reunification with Ireland.
The Democratic Unionist Party, which holds the second-largest number of seats in the assembly, has refused to participate in the power-sharing government because of the protocol. The DUP’s stand has crippled the legislature for the past 12 months and raised questions about the future of the Good Friday Agreement.
The framework announced Monday would rein in the protocol by limiting EU inspections to goods travelling through Northern Ireland to Ireland. Anything destined to remain in the province would no longer be subject to EU oversight.
Mr. Sunak said the change would mean that, for example, food products shipped to supermarkets in Northern Ireland from England would no longer be checked by EU officials. Drugs approved by British regulators would also be available immediately in Northern Ireland, so consumers wouldn’t have to wait for EU approval. And Britain’s sales tax regime, not EU regulations, would apply equally in Northern Ireland.
“This means we have removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea,” he added.
All eyes will now be on DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson. In a statement released Monday, Mr. Donaldson said that while significant progress had been made, he still had issues with the framework.
“There can be no disguising the fact that in some sectors of our economy EU law remains applicable in Northern Ireland,” he said. He added that the party will review the details of the agreement to determine “whether it respects and restores Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom.”
Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Fein, the largest party in the assembly, welcomed the framework and called on the DUP to end its boycott. “We are now at a turning point, and that is good news for business and wider society,” she said.
Mr. Sunak will have to wait until Tuesday for a verdict on the framework from a clutch of influential backbench Tory MPs known as the European Research Group, who have opposed the protocol.
The ERG was instrumental in the downfall of former party leader and prime minister Theresa May after she tangled with them over Brexit. It’s not clear if Monday’s framework will be enough to sway them, but one former ERG member, junior cabinet minister Steve Baker, gave it a thumbs up.
“It’s great news,” Mr. Baker told the BBC. “I am incredibly proud of this achievement.”
Mr. Baker is the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, and there had been speculation that he would resign if he found the framework unworkable.