Britain and the European Union (EU) proclaimed Monday a "new chapter" in relations after years of Brexit tensions as they agreed on a sweeping overhaul of trade rules in Northern Ireland, reports AFP.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen adopted the deal at a meeting in Windsor, west of London.
The deal follows more than a year of tense talks over the "Northern Ireland Protocol", which has unsettled the province 25 years on from a historic peace deal that ended three decades of armed conflict.
Agreed in 2020 as part of Britain's EU divorce, the original pact kept the province in the European single market for physical goods and subject to different customs rules than the rest of the United Kingdom, angering pro-UK unionists there and eurosceptics in London.
The UK government under Boris Johnson had threatened a unilateral rewrite of the protocol unless the EU agreed to wholesale changes, souring diplomatic ties and risking a wider trade war.
"This is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship," Sunak said at a news conference with von der Leyen, who also hailed the newly agreed "Windsor Framework".
"It's about stability in Northern Ireland. It's about real people and real businesses. It's about showing that our (UK) union, that has lasted for centuries, can and will endure," the prime minister added.
Von der Leyen said the "historic" agreement would ensure a "stronger EU-UK relationship" to tackle shared challenges such as Russia's war in Ukraine and climate change.
French President Emmanuel Macron lauded an "important decision" that will protect the European market.
And US President Joe Biden highlighted the economic opportunities that would be "created by this stability and certainty."
"Northern Ireland can accomplish the extraordinary when its leaders work together in common cause," Biden said in a statement.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
