A comprehensive deal to fix the Northern Ireland protocol will not be secured ahead of an October 28 deadline despite fast-improving relations between the U.K. and EU sides, senior officials have confirmed. Improved mood music not enough to secure comprehensive deal before October 28.
- Following high-level talks in London on Friday, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney praised a “real effort to reach out” by U.K. ministers over recent weeks but warned it was “completely unrealistic” to resolve all outstanding issues with the protocol before the end of the month.
- “I want to be very positive about the chances of getting a negotiated solution.
- I believe we’re all working in good spirits, with good cooperation to deliver on the changes that are required for the protocol to be fixed or the issues within the protocol to be fixed,” Heaton-Harris said.
- The two men were speaking after a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference at Lancaster House, alongside Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker and Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee.
- The next conference will take place in January 2023.
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