Britain and the European Union (EU) agreed on a new economic arrangement for Northern Ireland, aiming to remove years of tension generated by Brexit and allow more collaboration between both sides at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine poses a growing geopolitical risk to Europe.
Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission meet in Windsor, near the royal castle here, to sign a new agreement that allows British goods destined for Northern Ireland to enter without customs checks, while creating a separate process for goods going to Ireland through the province.
Northern Ireland was essentially left in the EU’s customs union, subject to certain of the bloc’s regulations and norms over which the people of Northern Ireland have no vote. It also meant that products going between two sections of the United Kingdom would be subject to EU customs procedures and tax systems.
To prevent a hard border between Ireland, an EU member, and the British province of Northern Ireland, Britain agreed to establish a customs border within its own nation as part of its Brexit divorce agreement. Both parties were concerned that doing so would exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region between unionists who want prolonged British rule and republicans who desire political unity with the rest of Ireland.
To prevent a hard border between Ireland, an EU member, and the British province of Northern Ireland, Britain agreed to establish a customs border within its own nation as part of its Brexit divorce agreement. Both parties were concerned that doing so would exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region between unionists who want prolonged British rule and republicans who desire political unity with the rest of Ireland.