UK and EU close to agreement on post-Brexit customs deal for Northern Ireland

Reports say that the exact role of the European Court of Justice is not yet settled

Containers stacked on the Belfast harbour estate. Getty

Britain and the EU are edging closer to a customs deal that could help end post-Brexit wrangling over Northern Ireland, with Brussels also having made a key concession on the European Court of Justice's role.

The EU has accepted a plan that would avoid the need for routine checks on products going into Northern Ireland, The Times newspaper said on Tuesday.

The bloc also agreed that the ECJ could rule on Northern Ireland issues only if a case was referred by courts in the province, but its exact role has yet to be settled, it told The National.

There had been major disagreements over the role of the ECJ, which would act as an adjudicator in a trade dispute between the UK and the EU.

The UK wanted British courts to have oversight but Brussels said the ECJ was the only competent body to rule on the interpretation and application of EU laws under the protocol.

Both sides were also hammering out details of a veterinary checks deal, The Times said.

A British government source told Reuters that no agreement had yet been reached and discussions were continuing.

A UK government representative said its priority is to protect the Belfast, Good Friday Agreement, and to preserve political stability in Northern Ireland and the UK internal market.

Any solution on the agreement needs to address issues on ground in Northern Ireland.

"We are currently engaging in intensive scoping talks with the EU to find solutions to these problems," the representative said.

Three years after Britain formally left the EU, both sides have been discussing how to enforce post-Brexit arrangements on the largely open border between Northern Ireland — part of the UK — and EU member state Ireland.

After months of tension between London, Brussels, Belfast and Dublin, progress has recently been made in the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Times quoted a senior British government source as saying the parameters of an overall deal were in place and it was up to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to decide whether to sign it off.

Talks on the protocol had collapsed in early 2022 but resumed when Mr Sunak took office in late October.

Officials on both sides reportedly hope for an agreement by April 10, which will be the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended a long-running conflict in Northern Ireland.