Thread by @tconnellyRTE

New: EU and UK officials are expressing confidence that an overarching agreement on the outstanding issues of the Northern Ireland Protocol can be agreed in the coming weeks.

2/ Sources say that officials are making progress on all the key obstacles that have held up the full implementation of the Protocol in recent months.

3/ The Protocol is due to enter into force on January 1, when Northern Ireland remains within the EU’s single market for goods and the rest of the UK formally leaves the European Union.

4/ The most sensitive issues include how to determine which goods entering the North from GB would be at risk of crossing the border and therefore attract a potential tariff, how to reconcile consignments of food for supermarkets with EU food safety rules...

5/ ...the construction of designated border control posts at Northern Ireland ports that will deal with animal health and food safety, and the EU presence in NI.

6/ Other issues include how Northern Ireland will plug into the EU’s VAT system for goods, and the UK’s VAT system for services. There also needs to be an agreement on the level of agriculture subsidies the UK will be entitled to grant to Northern Ireland farmers.

7/ It’s understood the question of EU food safety rules and a potential ban on sausages, mince and other prepared chilled foods of animal origin is also being addressed within the framework of the overall deal.

8/ Officials are tight-lipped about the details of how the issues are being addressed due to their sensitivity, but they say there is now a clear choreography in place that should lead to an overall agreement by mid December.

9/ The issues have been dealt with under the EU UK Joint Committee, set up under the Withdrawal Agreement, and the more technical Specialised Committee.

Last night European Commission officials updated member states on the progress made so far.

10/ “They ran through all the decisions that need to be taken and where we stand,” says one official briefed on the meeting. “It seemed to be quite encouraging. Work is underway, there's been progress.”

11/ One diplomat said: “The general perception is that progress is being made across the board in all these sensitive subjects. It’s going reasonably well.”

12/ Member states will have to approve a series of formal legal decisions, mandated under the Protocol, so that the system will have a proper legal base under EU law on January 1.

The UK is being appraised of these legal texts, it is understood.

13/ A meeting of the Joint Committee was scheduled for today but was postponed. It is now expected to take place next week, with a final JC meeting happening by mid December. It’s thought that at that point the overall package could be formally signed off by both the EU and UK.

14/ However, sources say there is still some way to go before all the details are finalised.

ENDS