On Monday 16 January, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Minister Chris Heaton-Harris issued a new joint statement confirming their intention to find solutions for the Northern Ireland Protocol.
While several media outlets had envisaged on Monday morning that this meeting (via video conference) would be likely to give a clear indication that the two sides are actually approaching an agreement, the content of the statement is much more cautious.
The three men reported that the two sides “discussed the range of challenges faced over the past 2 years and the need to work together to find solutions that comprehensively address the practical concerns of all communities in Northern Ireland and protect both Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market and the integrity of the EU’s single market”.
They “agreed that this scoping work for potential solutions should continue in a constructive and collaborative spirit, taking careful account of each other’s legitimate interests”.
On 9 January, these three actors had already taken stock of the state of work to resolve the difficulties in trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland (see EUROPE 13095/13). The Commission had reported breakthroughs on EU access to UK IT systems to organise this trade.
However, the statement of 16 January does not give any details and the date of the next meeting is still to be decided. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)