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What does the new Windsor Framework agreement between the UK and the EU include?
Image source, Getty ImagesUK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen have announced a new deal, aimed at fixing post-Brexit problems in Northern Ireland.
The full details of their agreement have just been published, and we’re working to get you a fuller picture of what’s been decided.
Here is what we know about the agreement, named the Windsor Framework, so far:
Green lane/red lane
- Goods from Britain destined for Northern Ireland will travel through a new “green lane”, with a separate “red lane” for goods at risk of moving onto the EU
- Products coming into Northern Ireland through the green lane would see checks and paperwork significantly reduced
- Red lane goods destined for the EU still be subject to normal checks
- Mr Sunak said this would mean food available on the supermarket shelves in Great Britain will be available on supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland.
- New data-sharing and labelling arrangements would be used to oversee the new system
- Where smuggling is suspected, some custom checks may still be carried out on green lane goods
- Businesses moving goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain would not be required to complete export declarations
- Bans on certain products – like chilled sausages – entering Northern Ireland from Britain would be scrapped
- Bans also lifted on seed potatoes and 11 native British trees
Pets, parcels and medicines
- No new requirements on moving pets from Northern Ireland to Britain
- Pet owners visiting Northern Ireland from Britain (but not travelling on to Ireland) only have to confirm their pet is microchipped and will not move into the EU
- Under old rules, pet owners had to have vet-issued health certificate and proof of up-to-date rabies vaccination, while dogs needed tapeworm treatment before every visit
- Medicines for use in Northern Ireland would be approved by UK regulator, with the European Medicines Agency not having any role
- Parcels will not be subject to full custom declarations
- From 2024, parcel operators required to share data with EU to manage smuggling risks
VAT and alcohol duty
- Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU VAT rules could be applied in Northern Ireland
- Under the new deal, UK VAT and excise rules will apply to Northern Ireland for alcoholic drinks for immediate consumption and immovable goods such as heat pumps
- EU VAT rules will still apply for other items
Stormont brake
- Under the protocol, some EU law applies in Northern Ireland, but politicians had no formal way to influence the rules
- New agreement reduces proportion of EU rules applied in Northern Ireland to less than 3%
- European Court of Justice continues to be the final arbiter in disputes over these remaining rules
- Deal introduces a “Stormont brake” which allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to raise an objection to a new goods rule
- Process would be triggered if 30 MLAs (representatives in the Stormont Assembly) from two or more parties sign a petition
- 14 day consultation period would follow, after which, if 30 MLAs still support it, there would be a vote in the assembly
- To pass, it would need support from both unionists and nationalist representatives
- The brake cannot be used for “trivial reasons” but reserved for “significantly different” rules
- Once the UK tells the EU the brake has been triggered, the rule cannot be implemented
- It can only be applied if the UK and EU agree
- This new process is not subject to oversight by the European Court of Justice oversight
- Disputes would be resolved through independent arbitration
- The EU has its own safeguard – if Northern Ireland starts to diverge significantly from the bloc’s rules, the EU has power to take “appropriate remedial measures”
Northern Ireland Bill scrapped
- Government has confirmed it is ditching the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
- The controversial legislation, introduced under ex-PM Boris Johnson, would have given the UK the power to scrap the old protocol deal
- Legal opinion published by the government says there is now “no legal justification” for going ahead with it
Image source, .
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