EU Set to Offer Brexit Compromise in Northern Ireland Stand-off

On Wednesday, the EU will try to break its Brexit impasse with Britain by laying out recommendations for a Northern Ireland settlement.

In a speech later today, EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is anticipated to concede ground by indicating that fewer checks will be required on goods crossing the Irish Sea.

However, his suggestions may fall short of British negotiator David Frost's expectations, which call for EU courts to lose their monitoring role.

Frost wants the Northern Ireland Protocol to be replaced with a whole new treaty, but the EU says it will only tweak the current agreement.

Brussels does not consider its ideas to be an ultimatum, but believes that once they are presented, negotiations might last into next year.

When commodities go from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland, they are subjected to inspection under the protocol. It implies they will be able to enter the Republic of Ireland, and thereby the EU, without having to go through any additional inspections.

The goal is to avoid a hard border in Ireland, which might exacerbate sectarian strife. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, claims that the checks are excessive and endangering the 1998 Northern Ireland peace deal.

After disputes over the protocol contributed to the devolved government's demise in April, Sefcovic has promised to give Northern Ireland a stronger input in how post-Brexit trade is managed.

The EU commissioner is anticipated to suggest that goods entering Northern Ireland require fewer checks.

According to some reports, the EU may give less checks in exchange for access to UK surveillance databases, which would facilitate trade monitoring.

Sefcovic has already stated that the EU is willing to amend legislation to ensure that medical supplies to Northern Ireland are not disrupted.

However, he is unlikely to move on the subject of the European Court of Justice, which serves as the protocol's last arbitrator.

Frost used his Tuesday address to push for international arbitration to replace the ECJ.

He reiterated his threat that the UK may unilaterally suspend the convention due to "severe economic, social, or environmental challenges" under Article 16, which covers "serious economic, societal, or environmental difficulties."

Sefcovic has characterised the threats as unhelpful, claiming that there are no easy fixes for "an extraordinarily complex subject."

He has stated that Northern Ireland could not continue in the EU's single market, allowing frictionless trade with the Republic, without the supervision of the European Court of Justice.

Tensions over the Brexit deal loomed over a G7 session in June, as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson clashed with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron was irritated that the United Kingdom wants to revise the protocol less than two years after Johnson signed it.

Sefcovic, on the other hand, appears to have persuaded EU colleagues to seek a compromise with a "very far-reaching proposal," as he described it.

"I sincerely hope that this will be seen as such by our UK counterparts," he stated last week. He stated that he hoped to have a solution before the beginning of next year.

Frost said he was ready to discuss the proposals and would “consider them seriously, fully and positively”.

He defended the early renegotiation by telling the EU it had little to lose from changing the protocol.

“For the EU now to say that the protocol — drawn up in extreme haste in a time of great uncertainty — can never be improved upon, when it is so self-evidently causing such significant problems, would be a historic misjudgement,” he said.

“Northern Ireland is not EU territory. It is our responsibility to safeguard peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland, and that may include using Article 16 if necessary.”