Business representatives questioned on the Windsor Framework
The House of Lords Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland holds the third evidence session of its inquiry into the Windsor Framework.
Meeting details
At 3:15pm: Oral evidence
Inquiry
Windsor Framework
Director at Target Transport
Head of Public Affairs at Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry
President at Ulster Farmers' Union
Background
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 launched its inquiry on 17 March, when it published its Call for Written Evidence, seeking responses by Tuesday 2 May. It will continue taking oral evidence during April and May. The Sub-Committee aims to publish its findings by the summer recess.
Possible questions
The Committee will ask the witnesses for their assessment of:
- The impact on business of the Windsor Framework, and the extent to which it resolves the problems that have arisen with the Protocol
- The proposed Stormont Brake, and mechanisms to engage with Northern Ireland stakeholders
- Whether the Windsor Framework protects both Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market and its access to the EU Single Market
- The Windsor Framework’s implications for larger firms and SMEs
- The proposed green lane mechanism
- The new framework for agrifood retail trade, and the current situation with veterinary medicines
- The movement of plants, seeds, machinery, trees and parcels
- The significance of the Windsor Framework for regulatory divergence, both East-West between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and North South between Northern Ireland and Ireland
- The impact of the Windsor Framework on VAT and State aid