27 February 2023

Questions and Answers: political agreement in principle on the Windsor Framework, a new way forward for the Protocol on Ireland / Northern I

What does this mean for cooperation in other areas? The EU seeks to have a strategic, enduring and mutually beneficial partnership with the United Kingdom. This Windsor Framework will help turn a page in EU-UK relations and reinforce our partnership in the face of shared geostrategic challenges...

Three page infographic fact sheet

 

INTRODUCTION

What is the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and what was the issue?

The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (‘Protocol') is an integral part of the European Union – United Kingdom Withdrawal Agreement. After long and intensive negotiations, the EU and the UK agreed the Protocol in 2020 to protect the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and ensure the integrity of the EU Single Market.

The Protocol entered into force on 1 February 2020, with all its provisions applying since 1 January 2021.

The Commission has from the beginning shown genuine understanding for unforeseen practical challenges in the operation of the Protocol, affecting the everyday lives of people and businesses in Northern Ireland.

Over the past months, the European Commission and the UK government have therefore worked intensively together to find joint solutions in response to these challenges. Only joint solutions can ensure lasting certainty and predictability for all communities in Northern Ireland.

What solutions have you found?

A political agreement in principle between the European Commission and the UK government has been reached on the Windsor Framework. This constitutes a comprehensive set of joint solutions to address, in a definitive manner, the real-life concerns of all communities in Northern Ireland, while protecting the integrity of the EU Single Market.

The solutions have been found within the framework of the Withdrawal Agreement, of which the Protocol is an integral part.

These practical and sustainable solutions mark a new way forward on the Protocol and ensure legal clarity and predictability for people and businesses in Northern Ireland. The solutions strike the right balance between flexibilities and effective safeguards for the protection of the EU Single Market. They rest primarily on new data sharing agreements, arrangements on customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT and excise, State aid, as well as specific instruments designed to ensure that the voices of people of Northern Ireland are better heard on specific issues particularly relevant to communities.

What does this mean for people and businesses in Northern Ireland?

The new arrangements mean that moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will now be vastly simplified, benefitting citizens and businesses in Northern Ireland alike. At the same time, they will continue to benefit from their unique access to the EU Single Market for goods.

For example, in the area of customs, trusted traders will enjoy smoother processes when transporting goods for end use in Northern Ireland. In the area of agri-food, simplified documentation will facilitate the movement of retail foods for end consumers in Northern Ireland. The application of UK public health standards for such goods will mean that people in Northern Ireland will have access to the same foods as in the rest of the UK. Chilled meats, such as sausages, will now also move easily to Northern Ireland.

A solution has been found to allow people to travel with their pets from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, on the basis of a simple document.

A way was also found for plants, shrubs, trees and seeds to be able to move into Northern Ireland, supporting garden centres and farming.

Recognising the valuable insight that stakeholders can offer on Northern Ireland's unique circumstances, the European Commission and the UK government have agreed to establish regular engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders, including civil society and businesses. These arrangements will also provide for a new emergency brake mechanism - the Stormont Brake - to allow the UK government, at the request of 30 Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland, to stop the application of amended or replacing legal provisions that may have a significant and lasting impact specific to the everyday lives of communities in Northern Ireland. This mechanism would be triggered under the most exceptional circumstances and as a matter of last resort, in a very well-defined process set out in a Unilateral Declaration by the UK.

Taken together, these joint solutions will ensure that the voices of people in Northern Ireland are better heard when it comes to the operation of the Protocol. Importantly, the new way forward will give people and businesses in Northern Ireland much needed legal clarity, certainty and predictability.

Did you renegotiate the Protocol?

The Windsor Framework has been fully carried out within the framework of the Withdrawal Agreement, of which the Protocol is an integral part. Article 164 of the Withdrawal Agreement provides that the Joint Committee can adopt decisions to correct errors, to address omissions or other deficiencies, or to address situations unforeseen when the Withdrawal Agreement was signed. The possibility to amend the Protocol in this way can only be done for a period of four years after the end of the transition period (i.e. until end 2024).

All new arrangements fall within this pre-established framework.

What does this mean for cooperation in other areas?

The EU seeks to have a strategic, enduring and mutually beneficial partnership with the United Kingdom. This Windsor Framework will help turn a page in EU-UK relations and reinforce our partnership in the face of shared geostrategic challenges. Both sides are ready to fully exploit the potential of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement – the cornerstone of our future bilateral relations.

 

Commission - Q&A 

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