Our London correspondent, Tiziana Prezzo, analyzes what both the British leader, Rishi Sunak, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, have called “the beginning of a new chapter in relations between the UK and the EU”
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LONDON – Now that the “Windsor Agreement” has been broadly explained by the two leaders (Rishi Sunak for the United Kingdom, Ursula Von der Leyen for the European Commission), both of whom appeared smiling and cheerful at the press conference, we are left with than to wait for the reactions of the Northern Irish unionists of the DUP and the rebels of the Conservative party led by former premier Boris Johnson.
But some things, especially after the premier’s speech in a packed House of Commons, already appear quite clear.
The beginning of a new chapter
First of all, as Sunak and Von der Leyen underlined on several occasions and in various forms, “a page has been turned” in relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union and “a new chapter has now begun”.
In this regard, the words of Von der Leyen are unequivocal, who spoke of a dialogue “frank, honest and on which one can rely”. Read between the lines: with Johnson, ready to use the weapon of unilateral withdrawal from the protocol, it was different music (out of tune, moreover). Let’s not even take into consideration the sad interlude of Liz Truss, which “lasted” a total of fifty days, less than a head of lettuce, joked a British tabloid.
The power of mediation
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Sunak did not fight, as did his predecessors and alleged brokers such as Lord David Frost. He did the one thing that really needs to be done when looking for a common point of fall: he mediated. And in four months he brought home what Johnson failed to do in over two years. “Look who did Brexit in the end,” sarcastically headlines the Independent, with a photograph of Rishi and Ursula shaking hands in satisfaction in a friendly way.
The Opposition of “Johnsonians” to “Unionists”
Johnson may scream and kick all he wants, but he’s been punched in the teeth to be stunned. Sunak works shrewdly, he doesn’t plunge the knife, in the House of Commons he is anxious to keep the party united, he says that this agreement was also reached thanks to his predecessor. But no one is stupid, his supporters comment half-heartedly. And the endorsement received from hard-core Brexit champions such as Steve Baker, minister for Northern Ireland, former head of the European Research Group, the think tank of ultra-conservatives and arch “Brexiteers” capable of influencing conservative governments , says a lot about how far we have come.
The unknowns of the stalemate of the Northern Irish Parliament
Can it therefore be assumed that unionists will enter the local government of Stormont, which has been blocked by the DUP for almost a year now? No, but a further refusal would be really difficult to sustain and to explain even to part of the Northern Irish Protestant community. The main problem of the party is that it does not speak with one voice. But yesterday its leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, made important openings in the House of Commons, while reserving the right to take the time to study all the papers.
Removed the internal UK border
The new agreement establishes a green lane, free of controls, for all goods (including medicines) destined for the Northern Irish market only. By doing so, the need for a fictitious border in the Irish Sea, within the UK, is eliminated. This aspect had posed a strong identity issue for those who feel British as well as Northern Irish. An identity to be defended at all costs, especially after the victory, for the first time, in the last local elections, of the nationalist (and republican) party of Sinn Fein and after the 2021 census established that now Protestants in Ireland of the North are for the first time a minority.
The role of the European Court of Justice
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The real unknown is the role that the European Court of Justice will continue to play in Northern Ireland. A “Stormont brake” has been set up, which would give the local Parliament more say, but the fact remains that the DUP had asked for the total exclusion of the community institution from any dispute on its territory.
In a month the anniversary of the Good Friday peace accords
A non-negligible passage of the Windsor press conference was the one in which Von der Leyen compared this mechanism to an evolution of the Good Friday peace accords. The reference is not accidental. A few days ago in Omagh, the scene of a notorious massacre during the “Troubles” years, some members of the New IRA ambushed a police officer who was not on duty. The man is now in very serious condition in hospital. In just over a month will be the 25th anniversary of that agreement, which must be carefully protected, both by the UK and by Europe. All that is needed is the OK from the DUP to make Parliament work for US President Joe Biden to be at the celebrations, who, having Irish origins, has the whole issue very close to heart.