British Prime Minister Rushi Sunak is seeking the support of Northern Ireland's DUP for a compromise with Brussels. But the party is making demands.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunkak on Friday tried to rally support in Belfast for a possible "deal" with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol. The compromise in the post-Brexit negotiations, which according to British media reports is ready for signature, is intended to provide for easier goods controls and a new dispute resolution mechanism.

Jochen Buchsteiner

Political correspondent in London.

• Follow I follow

Foreign Minister James Cleverly denied in an interview with the F.A.Z. on Thursday that a breakthrough with the EU had been achieved. However, he met on Friday in Brussels with the Deputy President of the European Commission, Marcos Sefcovic, who spoke afterwards of constructive talks. Sunak should also meet Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. According to media reports, Sunak could present the result of the negotiations as early as Tuesday in London.

Politicians of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had already drawn red lines in interviews on Friday morning, shortly before Sunak's arrival in Belfast. While they were open to the facilitated controls on goods, they announced that they would not accept any compromise that would give the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a say in Northern Irish matters. In particular, Sunak wanted to know whether the negotiations had achieved "the elimination of the automatic application of EU law in Northern Ireland," said DUP MP Sammy Wilson. With the compromise negotiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Brussels, Northern Ireland had been "abandoned to the EU," he said.

According to reports, the EU has agreed not to immediately refer disputes over the implementation of the protocol to the ECJ, but first to a conciliation body composed equally of Northern Irish and European judges. The DUP has been refusing to form a government in Belfast for months and only wants to give up its blockade if the Northern Ireland Protocol is abolished or significantly amended.

But Sunak also faces resistance from within his own ranks. Tory MP David Jones, who represents the EU-critical European Research Group in the group, said on Friday that the protocol "would not be fixed by pretending that the ECJ no longer has primary jurisdiction in Northern Ireland when it actually has it". Sunak is said to be particularly concerned about an intervention by his predecessor Johnson, who had negotiated the controversial protocol.