Northern Irish firms hail EU proposals to resolve Brexit protocol row

The EU’s proposals to break the impasse over the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol have gone “beyond expectations” of local businesses who say the bloc has listened to their demands and come up with solutions.

They say the promise to do away with most of the checks for British food and goods entering Northern Ireland and customs paperwork could forge the basis of a deal.

Seamus Leheny, the policy manager at the Logistics UK trade association in Northern Ireland, said if a deal could be struck between the UK and EU then Northern Ireland would be in a “win-win situation”. He added: “In a sense they have gone beyond some of our expectations.”

Industry leaders acknowledged “red line” demands by the UK and unionists to scrap the role of the European court of justice as the final arbiter in trade disputes. But they said it was not a priority for local businesses.

“It has not been a topic of discussion,” said Aodhán Connolly, the director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, while Leheny said “not a single member has raised the issue”.

Connolly said it was clear the EU had listened to business stakeholder demands and had shifted from its position in the summer when it said the protocol was not negotiable.

“There has been an obvious move from where the EU were even at the start of the summer,” said Connolly, but he added the proposals would be tested sector by sector before the consortium gave its final analysis.

“Some of the solutions being mooted go some way towards meeting those tests. However, we will reserve judgment until we have seen both legal and technical texts.

“There is hope in that there could be a landing zone,” he said, while warning of the serious hurdles that remained. “Let us not fall before we get to the finish line.”

Leheny is one of a number of representatives on a Brexit working group that has met with the British Brexit negotiator, David Frost, and the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič in recent weeks. He said the proposals looked almost like a carbon copy of their requests.

“What this shows is that the EU listened to us. They want the protocol to work. It is very encouraging. But what we ask now is that the UK government and the EU with some urgency work through this and get an agreement.”

Glyn Roberts, the chief executive of Retail NI, which represents independent supermarkets and corner shops, said he was optimistic a deal could be shaped out of the UK and EU proposals.

“I hope we can dial down the megaphone diplomacy and can join the two sets of proposals that will give us unfettered trade east-west, north-south but also the access to the single market.”

His members have been hit hard by requirements affecting what is known in the trade as “groupage” haulage, which involves lorry drivers carrying consignments from multiple sources for multiple destinations. Under the original protocol each consignment required paperwork, but under the proposals just one piece of paperwork for the entire lorry load would be needed.

“I’ve had independent retailers, delis, who have been unable to get access to their products,” he said.

“At the end of the day this is about hard-working families not having to pay more for their food and having the full range available in their local shops and online.”

Stephen Kelly, the chief executive of Manufacturing NI, also welcomed the EU proposals and urged the UK to work in the interests of the people of the region rather than political ideology.

“We recognise that the ECJ is a Brexit purity issue for the UK, but with regards to Northern Ireland exporters who are sending stuff to the EU it is beneficial and we see the benefit of having frictionless access to the single market,” he said.

Kelly said one member who was selling into the EU had reported “booming” business since Brexit and told him he could “triple his trade next year” if he could keep up with demand.

Although businesses appear unconcerned about the ECJ, its role remains an issue for local unionist leaders, with the Democratic Unionist MP Sammy Wilson telling BBC Radio’s Good Morning Ulster that the vast majority of businesses did not trade with the EU so the ECJ role of arbiter in trade disputes was not necessary.

“There’s no need for border checks, except for goods which go from Northern Ireland. And don’t forget, only 4% of our sales go to the EU, and only 5% of our firms actually trade with the EU,” said Wilson.