London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Hopes grow for new trade agreement between UK and EU

Hopes grow for new trade agreement between UK and EU

There are hopes on all sides that a fresh post-Brexit trade agreement between the UK and the EU will be reached soon.
Negotiations over what is known as the Northern Ireland Protocol have been ramped up in recent days.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has met EU chief negotiator Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak flew to Belfast for talks with political leaders.

Sunak said negotiations between London and Belfast to save the protocol were progressing but that there is still "work to do."

"Well, the test that I've set myself is that we protect Northern Ireland's place in our internal market, that we protect the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, that we resolve the practical issues that the protocol is causing families and businesses," the prime minister explained.

And even the most uncompromising of Northern Ireland's political parties, namely the Democratic Unionist Party, are relatively hopeful a solution can be found.

"The decisions that will be taken by the prime minister and by the European Commission will either consign Northern Ireland to more division or they will clear a path towards healing on to the restoration of the political institutions," DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told journalists.

Those institutions, a key pillar of a peace agreement that ended 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, have been out of action for almost a year over unionist opposition to the protocol as it stands.

Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein generally approves of the post-Brexit trade rules. But party leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was “very much game on” for a deal to resolve the dispute over them.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a border with an EU member nation, the Republic of Ireland.

When the UK left the bloc in 2020, the British government and the EU agreed to keep the Irish border free of customs posts and other checks because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended the violence.

Instead, there are checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, but British unionist politicians there are fiercely opposed to the arrangements.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
8-Year-Old Orders 70,000 Lollipops Using Mother’s Phone, Prompting $4,200 Amazon Bill and Viral Facebook Plea
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
American citizens account for 70% of worldwide pharmaceutical sales despite comprising only 4% of global population
New Details Emerge on Syrian Attacker's Motives in German Festival Stabbing
UK Introduces New Immigration Policy to Reduce Net Migration
Brazil’s President Aims to Strengthen Ties with China Amid US Trade Tensions
Senate Democrats Move to Censure Trump Over Qatar Jet Gift
First White South Africans Resettled in the U.S. Amid Controversy Over Persecution Claims
Hamas Releases Last Living US Hostage from Gaza Amid Ongoing Conflict
India and Pakistan Agreement on Ceasefire Amid Ongoing Tensions
Arsenal Stages Comeback to Draw 2-2 Against Liverpool in Premier League Clash
Trump's Upcoming Visit to Gulf Nations: Investment and Security at the Forefront
Rodrigo Duterte Awaits Trial at The Hague. Next week he might be elected mayor of his hometown
Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say
Retired British police officer arrested over ‘thought crime’ tweet
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at ICE Facility Amid Congressional Visit
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Bill Gates Announces Plan to Wind Down Philanthropic Foundation and Disperse Wealth
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
×