Rishi Sunak considers that a Brexit settlement may run afoul of his MPs

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As part of a new push for agreement, ministers are said to no longer see the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), once a totemic issue, as a major obstacle.

Instead, UK officials have conceded that judges based in Luxembourg should be the final arbiters of EU laws that apply within Northern Ireland.

They will seek to insert a layer of protection into an “overarching framework” to prevent the European Commission from taking disputes directly to its court.

Instead, it will bring any disagreements before an independent panel, which will have to seek the permission of the European Court of Justice if they relate to the Brussels regulations.

A source familiar with the talks said that when the protocol was signed, around 300 EU rules were said to be in force in Northern Ireland, but the list has since grown.

British officials are confident of the deal

British officials are confident a deal can be struck and have already begun writing their sales pitch to the Brexit hardliners in the ERG and DUP.

They have agreed that the protocol itself will not change but they want to sign a declaration on top of the existing text.

The document will show how the two sides agreed to significantly reduce red tape on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Putting DUP and ERG on a united front

DUP and ERG sources suspect that the ministers are actually trying to lay the groundwork for a compromise by playing them against each other. But the two groups were put on a united front.

David Jones, vice-president of the ERG, and Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s Brexit spokesperson, warned that they would not accept “cheating”.

The couple said: “The ultimate test for any deal will be whether it ends Northern Ireland’s semi-colonial status as an EU client, automatically accepting EU laws without any input from elected representatives.”

This is a fundamental problem that simply cannot be circumvented. The deal should not only address protocol symptoms by reducing the level of scans.

It must also resolve the root cause of these controls, namely the fact that Northern Ireland is trapped in the rules of the EU single market, semi-detached from the rest of the UK and therefore subject to the constant threat of a future regulatory disagreement with Great Britain.

“Ultimately, an agreement that only serves the short-term interests of the United Kingdom and the European Union but does not represent a lasting settlement between both parties and all traditions in Northern Ireland will be futile. Unionist politicians will not accept it. It will be a failure of statecraft of historic proportions.”

‘shoulder to shoulder’

Sir Geoffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP, addressed an ERG rally in Westminster last week as the two factions agreed to stand “side by side”.

A senior member of the ERG said: “We are in full swing with our friends in the DUP on this, and in particular their determination not to re-enter the NI executive, unless and until all EU laws are stricken from Northern Ireland.”

British and European officials are still engaged in intense talks, led by James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, and Maros Sefkovic of the bloc.

A government spokesperson said: “As we’ve said time and time again, any solution on protocol must address a range of issues including governance and the democratic deficit over how to apply new EU laws in NI.”

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