British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks on outside Number 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain, January 25, 2023.
Toby Melville | Reuters
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday signed a new trade deal with the European Union designed to remedy problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Speaking at a press conference shortly after the announcement, Sunak described the new agreement — know as the Windsor Framework — as “the beginning of a new chapter” for the relationship between the U.K. and the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added that the framework “respects and protects our respective markets and our respective legitimate interests. And, most importantly, it protects the very hard-earned peace gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.”
Sterling hit a session high of $1.2051, up 0.9%, shortly after the announcement. The euro also rose 0.7% hit a session high of $1.0613.
Sunak is due make a statement in Parliament at 1830 GMT.
The U.K. may have left the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020, but the Northern Ireland Protocol has sparked persistent disagreement ever since. This part of the Brexit deal mandates checks on some goods that travel to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. — with the new negotiations aimed at easing these rules.
Unionist parties in Northern Ireland — which is part of the U.K, unlike its neighbor Ireland, which is part of the EU — have argued that the checks place an effective border in the Irish Sea. The Protocol has also been criticized for jeopardizing the Good Friday Agreement — a long-standing peace deal that brought an end to three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
Sunak’s government has sought amendments to the deal signed by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has led calls from the hardline Eurosceptic wing within the ruling Conservative Party to rip up the deal he himself negotiated.
Breaking from predecessors Johnson and Liz Truss, Sunak has taken a less…
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