Daily Times

The EU is having “very constructive talks” with Britain on post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, but no deal has yet been reached, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. “You know the principle: that everything is only negotiated at the very end when you know what the result is and you give a final signature,” she told a news conference following UK press reports that a deal was all but agreed. She said she had an “excellent relationship” with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who took office in October, adding that “our teams are working together to find solutions” on the issue. Britain on Tuesday marked the third anniversary of its exit from the European Union. As part of its Brexit divorce, London agreed that EU rules would continue to apply to the movement of goods into and out of the UK territory of Northern Ireland, effectively putting it in the European Union’s single market in that regard. That is to preserve peace there in line with the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which includes ensuring uninterrupted economic integration between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. But London has since reopened negotiations with Brussels on the arrangement, arguing it undermined goods movement within the UK and the role of loyalist politicians in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government.