Brussels is pessimistic about the intra-party race for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party of Great Britain, believing that London’s relations with the EU will not improve in the near future.

Current Foreign Secretary Liz Trouss, 47, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, 42, are vying for leadership of Britain’s ruling party, with Europeans closely watching the internal party race to succeed Boris Johnson as president. the post of prime minister will appear next September.

Whoever the new British prime minister is, be it Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, Brussels does not hope for rapprochement with the new British governmentThe Guardian writes.

According to a British newspaper, European officials are now pessimistic about the possibility of a post-Brexit reset in the UK’s relationship with the EU..

There are even voices that, on the contrary, warn that relations between the two sides are in danger of even worsening against the backdrop of events around Northern Ireland Protocol.

Six years after the Brexit referendum, UK-EU relations are said to be at their lowest point as the British government pushes ahead with plans to unilaterally revise the Northern Ireland Protocol, drawing backlash from the EU, which believes the plans in question violate international law and threaten to completely dismantle the agreement governing trade relations and partnerships between the EU and the UK in the post-Brexit era.

“If the UK government follows the plan that has already been drawn up (i.e. with regard to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is itself led by the current Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, who is now also the favorite of the leadership of the ruling faction), then I think that relations get worse,” a European diplomat told the Guardian.

“Campaigns (including intra-party campaigns) basically radicalize candidates. It’s rare to see someone find themselves in more moderate positions after a leadership campaign,” another European official said, suggesting that the current intra-party Tory leadership race could lead to an even more moderate leadership. “Difficult” in relation to the EU.

However, the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank, concluded that the Brexit process has caused “permanent damage” to EU-UK relations.

Liz Truss, who is also the favorite of Boris Johnson’s successor as prime minister, is especially thought to have moved to more extreme positions, although she herself started out as a pragmatist.

As noted on the website of the European Commission, Ireland – Northern Ireland Protocol “prevents the creation of a hard border between Ireland (i.e. an EU member state) and Northern Ireland (i.e. part of the United Kingdom), thereby securing the economy of the whole island (i.e. the island of Ireland)” and at the same time “ensures the integrity of the EU Single Market for Goods, together with all the guarantees it offers in terms of consumer protection, public and animal health, and the fight against fraud and trafficking.”

However, the British government now wants to change, among other things, some of the rules regarding the process of checking and controlling goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.