Irish prime minister Micheal Martin (left) and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen speak to the media during her visit to Dublin today. (AP pic)
DUBLIN: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she is “very confident” a positive conclusion can be reached to a post-Brexit trade row over Northern Ireland if Britain shows the political will to find a solution.
Technical talks resumed in October for the first time in seven months on the Northern Ireland Protocol, the part of the Brexit deal that mandated checks on some goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.
“We have always shown flexibility, we will always have a constructive approach to these issues,” she said ahead of a meeting with Irish prime minister Micheal Martin and a planned address to the parliament in Dublin.
“If there is the political will in the UK, I am very confident that we can reach a positive conclusion.”
Britain agreed as part of its EU departure to effectively leave Northern Ireland within the bloc’s single market for goods in order to preserve the region’s open border with EU member Ireland.
However, it has since sought to scrap many of the checks that the deal introduced, which have caused anger among many pro-British unionists in Northern Ireland. Brussels has offered to ease some of the trade barriers.
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