A renegotiation with the European Union on Brexit trade arrangements will not be necessary following a proposed deal to restore powersharing, the Northern Ireland Secretary has suggested.
Chris Heaton-Harris and Downing Street were also both keen to stress that the agreement on the table would not prevent the UK from exploiting post-Brexit freedoms when it comes to moving away from Brussels’ trade rules.
Senior Conservatives have pressed upon Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that Britain must be able to diverge from the EU if it is to make the most of leaving the bloc.
It comes after Mr Sunak was reportedly said to be considering offering to voluntarily limit divergence from EU rules in the future, to limit the impact of an Irish Sea trade border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Such a position would likely put the Government on a collision path with Brexiteers.
Mr Heaton-Harris, speaking during a press conference in Westminster on Tuesday, said the terms of the deal to restore the Stormont Assembly would be published on Wednesday, following briefings with parties in Northern Ireland.
The lengthy wrangling over the shape of an agreement to resurrect powersharing has primarily been between the DUP and the Westminster Government.
It was thought that any move to remove all checks and customs paperwork on GB-NI trade would require EU support, as the arrangements that govern Irish Sea trade – the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework – have been jointly agreed between Brussels and London.
But the Northern Ireland Secretary, asked whether a renegotiation would be needed with the EU to ensure the deal can go through, told reporters: “I don’t believe so.”
He declined to say whether he had held negotiations with Brussels ahead of the DUP agreeing to participate in talks to revive devolved government in Northern Ireland.
The Cabinet minister, who is due in Belfast on Tuesday to speak with political figures in the region, said the agreement “hasn’t affected divergence in any shape or form” in relation to Brexit.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters the package “will not change the freedoms and powers that we have secured through Brexit or through the Windsor Framework”.
The spokesman added: “It won’t reduce our ability to diverge nor our commitment to do so should it be in the interests of the UK.”
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, under questioning in the Commons from pro-Brexit Tory MPs last week, said she would raise concerns “at the highest level” about a reported offer by the UK Government to limit divergence from EU laws in order to restore devolution in Belfast.
Tory former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg was quoted in The Telegraph as saying any such deal would mean “we will not diverge at all”.
On Tuesday, the Commons European Scrutiny Committee raised concerns that, under current terms, new EU rules on mobile phone design could see Northern Ireland diverge and have “significant differences” from the UK.
Included in the EU’s plans for greater sustainability are requirements for phone software updates to remain available for at least five years after the product is placed on the market, and producers will need to make critical spare parts available for seven years after sales of the product end.
In its report, the committee says the divergence “would not be acceptable” and would constitute “yet another example of the damage that current arrangements under the Windsor Framework are causing to the union”.
At his press conference, the Northern Ireland Secretary said negotiations over powersharing had involved a “very long conversation” with the DUP about “how we can make better Northern Ireland’s place in our internal market”.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said the deal to restore Stormont powersharing will remove all post-Brexit checks on goods moving into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
Mr Heaton-Harris, asked whether that had been achieved, said: “We have been able to achieve quite a vast array of decent improvements to make sure our internal market works properly, as it should do, and you will hopefully be able to see those tomorrow.”
No 10 confirmed that Mr Sunak and Mr Heaton-Harris briefed the rest of Cabinet on the developments on devolution on Tuesday.
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