New Lords inquiry on ‘Strengthening Northern Ireland’s Voice’ in context of the Windsor Framework
On Wednesday 8 May, the Sub-Committee on the Windsor Framework launches a new inquiry examining how Northern Ireland’s voice can be strengthened in the context of the Windsor Framework. At its first and second oral evidence sessions, the Committee will question academic and legal experts.
Meeting details
Background
The Windsor Framework, announced in February 2023, now includes a complex institutional architecture, which has evolved over a number of years. The Committee is launching an inquiry to understand these processes better and explore how stakeholders, policymakers, and politicians can be more effectively included.
The Committee has long noted an inherent ‘democratic deficit’ in the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and then the Windsor Framework, by which significant aspects of EU law with wide-ranging political and economic implications apply to Northern Ireland subject neither to UK Government participation in the EU institutions, nor to consent from parliamentarians either at Westminster or Stormont. In previous publications the Committee has noted that this ‘democratic deficit’ can be mitigated, though not fully removed, in a number of ways.The UK and the EU made several commitments as part of the Windsor Framework to enable Northern Ireland to engage with legislation potentially applying under the Windsor Framework at an early stage of policy formation.
These mechanisms include:
- Measures to involve Northern Ireland within UK-EU structures, whether at a political level through the Joint Committee or at an official level;
- Mechanisms to enhance Northern Ireland’s participation within intra-UK structures relating to the Windsor Framework; and
- Measures to improve NI access to information at an EU level, for example through the EU Commission’s annual presentation of upcoming policy initiatives and legislative proposals.
The Committee’s new inquiry proposes to examine these recent measures to enhance the voice of Northern Ireland. This will include those mechanisms which are already functioning, such as official-level structures and the participation of stakeholders in enhanced dialogue.
The Committee will also seek to examine how engagement with Northern Ireland politicians might take place now that the Northern Ireland institutions are operational. A new package of measures was also announced as part of the Government’s recent command paper ‘Safeguarding the Union’. Noting that some of these bodies are still at an early stage, the Committee plans to examine these proposals in more detail, particularly the establishment of the new working group with the Northern Ireland Executive, and the operation of the UK East-West Council.
It is expected that the Committee will write to the Government with it findings before the summer.
Possible questions will include:
- How successful are measures announced before or as part of the Windsor Framework in promoting Northern Ireland’s voice at a UK, and EU, level, and in UK-EU structures?
- What opportunities exist for businesses and civil society stakeholders to engage with the UK or the EU under the Windsor Framework?
- Does the return of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly create more opportunities for engagement at a political level?
- How would you assess the effectiveness of Northern Ireland Assembly mechanisms, including the Stormont Brake and the applicability motion procedure?
- What progress has been made on establishing the new structures announced in the Government’s ‘Safeguarding the Union’ Command Paper?