Speculation about early agreement in Brexit conflict over Northern Ireland Two women and a man have a chance to become head of government in Scotland

In the battle for an agreement between London and Brussels on the Brexit rules for the British province of Northern Ireland, there are increasing signs of an impending breakthrough. The British news agency PA reported on Friday that MPs from Britain’s ruling Conservative party have been instructed to come to parliament next Monday. This was interpreted as a sign that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could announce an agreement with the EU. However, it was unclear whether MPs would be given the opportunity to vote on a deal.

Sunak is expected to hold talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before negotiations break through. That could happen over the weekend, PA speculated. As confirmed by the German news agency, they both had a phone call on Friday afternoon that was described as positive.

The decisive question for success is whether Sunak will succeed in winning over Northern Ireland’s largest Protestant Unionist party, the DUP. In protest against the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, they have been blocking government formation in the British part of the country for months.

The Northern Ireland Protocol is part of the Brexit treaty. It was negotiated by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson against the will of the DUP and allowed for an orderly exit from the EU. In the parliamentary elections scheduled shortly after, Johnson won a solid majority.

The protocol stipulates that the customs border between Great Britain and the EU runs in the Irish Sea. This is to avoid having to introduce border controls between British Northern Ireland and the EU member state of Ireland. Otherwise, it was expected that the conflict over the reunification of the two parts of Ireland would flare up again. But the controls have also created difficulties for intra-British trade, and the Union’s Protestant supporters feel cut off from Britain.

(yam/sda/dpa)