The European Commission aims to complete negotiations with Britain on Northern Ireland by the end of February, the European Commission’s chief negotiator said, while giving a somber assessment of progress so far.

Maros Sefkovic Both sides want a deal to avoid problems that dominate the campaign ahead of the Northern Ireland election in May, according to people present, at a closed meeting of European Parliament members on Thursday.

But he warned that despite an improved tone after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss replaced Lord Liz David Frost as Brexit negotiator, Britain has not change its requirements.He added that London continued to insist on a fundamental rewrite Northern Ireland Agreement, which was signed in 2019 and governs post-Brexit trade in the region.

The Protestant Unionist Party has condemned the deal and is likely to speak out against it as they try to defend their majority in Stormont parliament.

The region remains tied to the EU’s single market rules for goods to avoid trade borders on the island of Ireland that could derail the peace after decades of civil unrest. This means that shipments from the UK to Northern Ireland are subject to customs and food and animal health checks.

Negotiations began in October after the EU said it would propose to cut inspections of animal and plant products by up to 80 percent and cut customs paperwork in half, but London said the proposal would not deliver such cuts in practice.

Sefkovic and Truss met for the first time on January 13 and will meet again in Brussels on Monday.

A joint statement issued after the last meeting underscored the warm atmosphere between the two sides, but Sefkovic said he was surprised that Truss continued to demand changes that the EU had ruled out.

These include removing customs requirements for goods the UK believes are only destined for Northern Ireland. Truss also wants an arbitration mechanism to hear disputes before submitting them to the European Court of Justice. She wants to remove the EU’s requirement to approve state aid, subsidies given to companies.

Truss outlined her demands in an article Belfast Telegraph Thursday. The EU “sees Northern Ireland as part of the single market and the EU, and we all know it’s not”, she said.

An EU diplomat said Sefkovic told member ambassadors on Thursday that Truss was taking up demands he believed Frost had abandoned. “Our time is running backwards,” the diplomat said.

Without a deal, Sefkovic is more likely to suspend rather than end talks after February, an EU official said. He has publicly called for more urgency in the process.

Sefcovic also told MEPs that business and civil society in Northern Ireland support the EU proposal And over 60% of the population supports the protocol. He added that once agreed, any changes to the agreement could be implemented quickly.

Additional reporting by Peter Foster in Brighton