The Windsor framework lightens customs controls on goods intended only for the North Irish market and allows the local assembly, under exceptional conditions, to oppose the transposition of a new European law.
by Cécile Ducourieux (London, correspondent) and Virginie Malingre (Brussels, European office)
It was a crucial day for Northern Ireland and relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), inscribed under the unusual auspices of British royalty. Monday, February 27, from the town hall of Windsor (in Berkshire), a stone’s throw from the venerable royal eponymous castle, the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced all smiles and obviously accomplices the frame of Windsor, a very substantial revision of the North Irish protocol.
Negotiated by Boris Johnson at the end of 2019, the protocol constituted a crucial part of the Brexit Treaty governing the special fate reserved for Northern Ireland, but it was rejected by the Unionists of the province (faithful to belonging to the kingdom -Uni), who lived it as an attack on their British identity because it established a customs border in the Irish Sea. This text has been able to have the relations between London and Brussels for three years.
Result of four months of intense negotiations, the frame of Windsor “marks a turning point for Northern Ireland, it allows fluid trade with the rest of the country, protects its place in the [British] Union and preserves The sovereignty of the North Irish, “said Rishi Sunak. The agreement “opens a new chapter, for stronger relations between the EU and the United Kingdom,” added Ursula von der Leyen, before going to the castle of Windsor where it was received by King Charles III . “The king is not involved in discussions on the protocol,” assured the European Commission, but the meeting was interpreted by the British media as a royal approval of the agreement and aroused questions, the monarch being assumed Stay politically neutral.
relief of customs controls
Never fully entered into force, the 2019 protocol imposed binding customs declarations for goods passing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the latter remaining after Brexit in the European internal market for goods. The goal was to avoid the appearance of a border on the island of Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, which would have threatened the fragile balance of the Good Friday. This peace agreement ended in 1998 at thirty years of civil war in Northern Ireland between the Unionists and the Nationalists, supporters of a reunification of the island.
Windsor’s framework drastically lightens customs controls on goods intended only for the North Irish market and marketed by “trust” players. On health and phytosanitary products, they will be reduced to 5 % of what was initially planned. Only goods risk being in the Republic of Ireland, therefore on the European single market, will be subject to significant controls.
You have 63.79% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.