Talks between Britain and the European Union on securing a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland are heating up this weekend.
With Number 10 calling the talks “positive” there are signs that a deal is close.
According to JEE News, King Charles was also scheduled to meet the president of the European Commission in the UK on Saturday.
But the visit has been canceled due to operational reasons unrelated to the political talks.
The planned meeting between King and Ursula van der Leyen, originally reported by JEE News, was not part of negotiations between the UK and the EU.
However, this was a chance for the pair to meet face to face. And the fact that the meeting was planned is significant because it shows that the Brexit deal was going to be done – and presented publicly – while Ms van der Leyen was in the UK.
It is not known when the President of the European Commission will come to the UK.
Some had suggested a new deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol – which was thought to be complete – could be called the Windsor Agreement and include a moment in front of the cameras in which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ms. van der Leyen included.
The protocol, which was agreed under former prime minister Boris Johnson and came into effect in 2021, saw Northern Ireland comply with some EU rules to meet the need for checks on the UK’s border with the Republic of Ireland. Continued to follow.
Mr Sunak and Ms van der Leyen spoke by telephone on Friday and Downing Street said the Prime Minister had made “good progress”.
A source later said it had been “positive” and talks would continue, with the leaders agreeing to “discuss this further in the coming days”.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary James Cleverley has pulled out of a long-planned trip to the Middle East at the start of next week – raising expectations that a formal announcement from Britain and Brussels could be days away.
But there have been repeated delays over the past week or so, as a row between No 10, the Democratic Unionist Party, and Conservative backbenchers has played out.
The prime minister is trying to garner support for changes to the controversial protocol.
A DUP source earlier told JEE News he was not involved in any discussions with the prime minister on Friday and had no meeting scheduled for the weekend.
Mr Sunak is trying to win the DUP over a deal, as the party is currently blocking the formation of a breakaway government in Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister is facing additional pressure from some Conservative MPs over Northern Ireland’s existing obligation to comply with some EU laws and to be accountable to the European Court of Justice.
Both the UK and the EU will have to coordinate diaries so that the choreography of the announcement can be worked out at a mutually convenient time and place.
