The United Kingdom and the European Union reached a compromise on trade with the British province on Monday, after months of tension.
It is a chapter in the history of Brexit that has just closed. The United Kingdom and the European Union reached a compromise on Monday, February 27 regarding post-Brexit provisions in Northern Ireland. London and Brussels now hope open “a new chapter” after months of tumultuous relations and political deadlock in the British province. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the agreement, dubbed the “Windsor Framework”, at aa joint press conference in Windsor, west London. Franceinfo returns to the compromise found and what it will change.
What was the situation before the agreement?
Signed in 2020, the Northern Ireland Protocol regulates the movement of goods between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland, which has a land border with the EU member Republic of Ireland. This protocol, negotiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, wanted to avoid the establishment of a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland which would risk undermining peace, while protecting the single European market.
Rather than carrying out formalities at the only land border between the United Kingdom and the EU, at the risk of rekindling tensions, the agreement provided that checks on goods from Great Britain, the across the Irish Sea, would take place upon their arrival in Northern Ireland. The text effectively kept Northern Ireland in the common market and customs union of the EU.
The protocol thus generated tensions between the European Union and London, but also became a problem of internal politics for Rishi Sunak, facing opposition from the right wing of his majority and that of the unionists of the Democratic Unionist Party. (DUP), opposed to any questioning of the place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. They refused any de facto application of European law in the British province and blocked the functioning of the local executive for a year.
However, this protocol was never fully implemented due to extended grace periods on certain controls such as non-frozen meat or medications. In June 2022, Boris Johnson’s government proposed a bill to override this text. Furious, the Europeans had threatened commercial reprisals.
What does the compromise that has been found provide?
With the agreement reached on Monday, called the “Windsor framework”, “we have removed the border in the Irish Sea”argued Rishi Sunak before the House of Commons. He must allow “smooth trade within the UK”according to the Prime Minister. “The cumbersome customs bureaucracy will be eliminated”he insisted. He brings “solid guarantees” for the protection of the single European market, assured Ursula von der Leyen.
In concrete terms, products arriving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to stay there will no longer be subject to the same controls as those destined to be subsequently exported to the Republic of Ireland, that is to say to the European Union. European. This will apply to commercial exchanges as well as to the sending of parcels by individuals.
Certain changes in the rate of VAT or other duties decided by London for the United Kingdom, for example on alcohol, will apply to Northern Ireland, while the constraints on sending and selling in the province animals or certain plants will be removed. In addition, the British authorities, and no longer the European Medicines Agency (EMA), will issue marketing authorizations for medicines.
To respond to the concerns of Unionists, who want to have a say in the application of new European rules in Northern Ireland, the local Parliament will have a “emergency brake”. If 30 MPs from several parties oppose the application in the province of a new European law on goods and goods, they will be able to call a vote to block it, on the model of a provision already existing in the agreement peace of 1998.
This “emergency mechanism” will not, however, take away from the European Court of Justice “the last word” regarding the rules governing the single market still in force in the province, insisted Ursula von der Leyen. Finally “less than 3%” European laws will continue to apply in Northern Ireland, argues London.
The agreement also provides qEU London renounces a bill thanks to which the British government wanted to arrogate unilaterally the right to override certain provisions of the Northern Irish protocol. In doing so, Rishi Sunak obtains in return the withdrawal of the legal proceedings launched by the Europeans.
What will happen now?
According to the first reactions of the conservative camp, Rishi Sunak seems able to avoid a major revolt which would affect his authority after four months in power. After maintaining the vagueness, the British Prime Minister confirmed that the new agreement would be put to a vote “timely”.
Opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer has already indicated that his party will vote in favor of the deal.