London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Joe Biden supports EU position on Northern Ireland, says Von der Leyen

Joe Biden supports EU position on Northern Ireland, says Von der Leyen

Brussels chief says US president agrees Britain should not ditch post-Brexit protocol

Ursula von der Leyen has claimed that the EU’s position on Northern Ireland has the support of the US president, as Brussels prepares a “ladder” of retaliatory options up to and including the suspension of the UK trade deal over Boris Johnson’s threats to ditch the current post-Brexit arrangements.

After a meeting at the White House, the European Commission president said Joe Biden was in agreement with the bloc that Johnson should not upend the tortuously negotiated Northern Ireland protocol.

Next week the commission is expected to present EU states with various retaliatory options if the UK government goes ahead with its threat to suspend parts of the arrangements designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Von der Leyen told reporters in Washington: “I think that President Biden and I will share the assessment that it is important for peace and stability on the island of Ireland to keep the withdrawal agreement and to stick to the protocol.

“This protocol has managed to square the difficult circle that Brexit caused. And now Northern Ireland has access to both markets that have access to the single market, the British single market as well as the European single market. Therefore, the situation is a positive one. And we want to do everything to cut red tape to be as flexible as possible within the protocol.”

The White House later issued a statement in which it said both leaders had during their talks “expressed their continued support for political and economic stability in Northern Ireland”.

EU diplomats were warned on Wednesday, during a downbeat assessment by the bloc’s Brexit commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, that his British counterpart, David Frost, had been making unrealistic demands in the recent talks over the issue.

It is understood that Germany’s representative said in response that the EU must be ready to be hard-hitting should Downing Street ultimately decide to suspend parts of the agreed deal.

“The withdrawal agreement and the protocol were a prerequisite for the trade agreement,” Berlin’s ambassador said, according to one account. “It shouldn’t be forgotten when thinking about countermeasures.”

The withdrawal agreement keeps Northern Ireland in the single market and draws a customs border down the Irish Sea. But under article 16, parts of the agreement can be suspended as a “safeguard” in respond to a distortion of trade or the creation of societal difficulties.

The scope of the suspension must be “proportionate”, however, and the commission is expected to advise that Brussels must tailor its response should No 10 trigger the article. “The EU response must be well prepared, robust, proportional and legally sound,” a senior EU diplomat said. “Our response to the UK is also looked at by other trading partners.”

While suspension of the trade parts of the agreement is possible, the EU could also retaliate through targeted tariffs or even by ending arrangements that allow data flows between the bloc and the UK.

The advantage of giving a year’s notice of suspension of the trade deal would be to “open a new chapter” and force the UK to take the process seriously, according to one EU source, but diplomats added that there was no desire to “escalate” the issue.

Speaking in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Frost said he still believed the talks over Northern Ireland, now in their fourth week, could be successful and urged the EU to be calm.

“I gently suggest that our European friends stay calm and keep things in proportion,” he said. “They might remind themselves that no government and no country has a greater interest in stability and security in Northern Ireland and the Belfast Good Friday agreement than this government.”

Frost reiterated, however, that the UK was willing to trigger article 16 – and warned that Downing Street would not sit back and accept retaliatory measures from the EU.

He said: “At that point, of course, we would be entitled to come to our own judgments about how much value we could attach to their commitments supporting the peace process and the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland, as against protecting their own interests.”

Frost and Šefčovič are due to meet again on Friday. Frost told the Lords that if it became clear that no agreement could be reached, “the article 16 safeguards will be our only option”.

He added: “In my view, this process of negotiations has not reached its end. Although we have been talking for nearly four weeks, there remain possibilities that the talks have not yet seriously examined, including many approaches that have been suggested by the UK.

“So there is more to do, and I will certainly not give up on this process unless and until it is abundantly clear that nothing more can be done. We are certainly not at that point yet.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US and China Agree One-Year Trade Truce After Trump-Xi Talks
BYD Profit Falls 33 % as Chinese EV Maker Doubles Down on Overseas Markets
US Philanthropists Shift Hundreds of Millions to UK to Evade Regulatory Uncertainty in Trump Era
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of Titles and Royal Residence
Trump–Putin Budapest Summit Cancelled After Moscow Memo Raises Conditions for Ukraine Talks
Amazon Shares Soar 11% as Cloud Business Hits Fastest Growth Since 2022
Credit Markets Flooded with More Than $200 Billion of AI-Linked Debt Issuance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says China Made 'a Real Mistake' by Threatening Rare-Earth Exports
Report Claims Nearly Two Billion Dollars in Foreign Charity Funds Flowed into U.S. Advocacy Groups
White House Refutes Reports That US Targeting Military Sites in Venezuela
Meta Seeks Dismissal of Strike 3’s $350 Million Copyright Lawsuit
Apple Exceeds Forecasts With $102.5 Billion Q3 Revenue Despite iPhone Miss
Israel's IDF Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi Admits to Act Amounting to Aiding Hamas During Wartime (Treason)
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
×