New inquiry and call for evidence launched on the Windsor Framework

• Call for written evidence
• Letter to the Foreign Secretary on new inquiry into the Windsor Framework, 17 March 2023
• Inquiry: Windsor Framework
• Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Sub-Committee

Background

The European Affairs Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland was appointed in April 2021, to consider all matters related to the Protocol, including scrutinising EU legislation applying to Northern Ireland under the Protocol, the Protocol’s overall socio-economic and political impact on Northern Ireland, and to engage in interparliamentary dialogue, notably with the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The Windsor Framework was announced by the UK and the EU on
27 February 2023 as “a set of meaningful changes to the Protocol and its operation which will provide lasting certainty and stability for citizens and businesses in Northern Ireland.” The Sub-Committee has today written to the Foreign Secretary inviting him to give evidence to the inquiry, and it will also take oral evidence from business and community representatives, legal and academic experts and political representatives over the coming weeks. The Sub-Committee aims to publish its findings by the summer.

Key issues

The Committee is seeking written submissions addressing any or all of the following core issues:

• The overall assessment of the Windsor Framework, and its implications for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement;
• Customs procedures and the movement of goods, including the proposals for red and green lanes;
• The new provisions for agrifood retail trade into Northern Ireland;
• The Framework’s proposals for movement of parcels;
• The application of VAT and excise in Northern Ireland;
• Whether the Protocol resolved the issues around provision of medicines to Northern Ireland;
• The Framework’s impact on the movement of pets;
• Veterinary medicines, and the prospects for a sustainable solution ahead of the expiry of the grace period in 2025;
• The implications of and means to mitigate East-West and North-South regulatory divergence;
• The impact of the Windsor Framework on the application of EU rules in Northern Ireland;
• The democratic deficit and the operation of the ‘Stormont Brake’;
• New structures for UK-EU cooperation;
• Engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders;
• The governance of the Framework, including arbitration and its impact on the role of the CJEU.

The deadline for submissions is 4pm on Tuesday 2 May 2023

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committee
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees