26 April 2023 - Windsor Framework - Oral evidence

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. On 26 April, the Committee will hear from representatives of the SME sector to understand the impact the Windsor Framework will have on such firms. The Committee will then continue taking oral evidence during 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 SMEs
• The proposed green lane mechanism
• The new framework for agrifood retail trade, and the current situation with veterinary medicines
• The movement of parcels, plants, seeds, machinery and trees
• 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

Further information

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