After intense negotiations, the choreography of the day leaves little doubt that an agreement is emerging on this ultra-sensitive issue, the source of the blocking of the institutions of the province but also of turmoil within the Conservative majority in London.

The two officials are due to meet in the middle of the day to discuss "practical solutions for the multiple complex challenges" posed by the Northern Irish protocol, Downing Street said on Sunday.

Mr. Sunak and Mrs. von der Leyen must then hold a joint press conference in Windsor, a city west of London where one of the residences of Charles III is located.

However, a potential meeting with the monarch has not been confirmed.

Signed in 2020, the Northern Ireland protocol, negotiated after Brexit by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, regulates the movement of goods between the rest of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, which has the only land border with the European Union.

This protocol wanted to avoid a land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland which would risk weakening the peace concluded in 1998 after three bloody decades, while protecting the single European market.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street on February 22, 2023 in London © JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP/Archives

But it poses practical problems by imposing customs controls on goods from Great Britain arriving in Northern Ireland, even if they are intended to remain in the British province.

Rally the Unionists

The protocol thus generated tensions between the European Union and London but also became an internal problem for Rishi Sunak, faced with opposition from Brexit hardliners and that of unionists from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), fiercely opposed to any questioning of Northern Ireland's membership of the United Kingdom.

The latter refuse any de facto application of European law in the British province and have blocked the functioning of the local executive for a year.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, January 12, 2023 in Belfast, Northern Ireland © PAUL FAITH / AFP/Archives

To calm the unionists, London had threatened last spring to withdraw unilaterally from the agreement, arousing the anger of Dublin and Brussels which had then raised the specter of a trade war.

"From what I heard, (Rishi Sunak) did a very good job but I'm not sure he succeeded in the objective of bringing the DUP back into the executive, which is fundamental", reacted Conservative and Eurosceptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg on ITV on Monday.

“What concerns me about all of this,” he added, “is that what appears to be a great achievement has been undermined by the fact that the DUP was not consulted in the first place.”

"There are many currents of opinion which support (the place of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, editor's note) but which could adopt a more pragmatic point of view on the need for a compromise", pleaded Tory MP Robert Buckland, calling the future deal a "big step forward".

Meeting with the king?

Mr Sunak is due to meet with his key ministers to update them on the latest changes before the press conference with Ms von der Leyen in mid-afternoon.

The British Prime Minister is then due to return to London to address MPs in the House of Commons.

It is still unclear whether Ursula von der Leyen will meet King Charles III.

She was due to travel to London on Saturday before her visit was canceled but the possibility of an interview with the monarch was then widely criticized, with some complaining that the government is involving the king in such contentious political discussions.

The Northern Irish peace agreement © / AFP/Archives

“I think the sovereign should be involved only when things have been finalized and agreed,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.

"Her Majesty should not be involved in this until there is full support for the deal."

© 2023 AFP