3 May 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 4pm on Tuesday 2 May. On 3 May, the Sub-Committee will hear from academic, legal and trade experts on the economic, legal and political impact of the Windsor Framework. The Sub-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 Windsor Framework and the extent to which it resolves the problems that have arisen with the Protocol
• The proposed Stormont Brake, and the extent to which this will address the democratic deficit under the Protocol
• The Windsor Framework against the UK and EU’s joint commitment to protect the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
• The Windsor Framework’s provisions in relation to customs procedures and the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including the arrangements for ‘green’ and ‘red’ lanes
• The new framework for agrifood retail trade into Northern Ireland agreed as part of the Windsor Framework
• The proposals on VAT and excise, and State aid
• The impact of the Windsor Framework for regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and on the island of Ireland?
• The basis for the Government’s reference to the removal of 1,700 pages of EU law applying to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework
• The governance of the Framework, including the role of the CJEU and the Withdrawal Agreement’s mechanism for arbitration?

Further information

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