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The United Kingdom and the European Union reached a compromise, called the “Windsor Framework”, on Monday on post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland. Explanations.
The “Windsor framework” on which London and Brussels agreed on Monday, February 27, amends the Northern Irish protocol signed in 2020 in the context of Brexit and subject of recurring tensions between London and Brussels.
What is Northern Irish Protocol?
This is a text negotiated between London and Brussels in the context of Brexit to avoid weakening the peace concluded in 1998 on the island, by recreating a land border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union (EU).
Rather than carrying out formalities at the only land border between the United Kingdom and the EU at the risk of rekindling tensions, it provides that checks on goods from Great Britain, on the other side from the Irish Sea, take place on arrival in Northern Ireland.
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The text effectively maintains Northern Ireland in the common market and customs union of the EU. However, it was never fully implemented due to extended grace periods on certain controls such as non-frozen meat or medicines.
What were the difficulties?
The Northern Irish protocol is held responsible for supply difficulties in Northern Ireland and is presented, on the British side, as a threat to the so-called Good Friday peace agreement because of the tensions it has awakened in the province. . The unionists fear in particular to see Northern Ireland, maintained de facto in the bosom of Europe, moving away from the United Kingdom.
It led to a paralysis of institutions in Northern Ireland, with members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), hostile to the deal, refusing to join the local executive with the Republicans of Sinn Fein – big winner of the local elections last May – as long as the checks are not abandoned.
What changes does the “Windsor framework” bring?
The agreement reached on Monday should allow “smooth trade within the United Kingdom”, according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “Cumbersome customs bureaucracy will be eliminated,” he insisted.
In concrete terms, products arriving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to stay there will no longer be subject to the same controls as those destined to be subsequently exported to the Republic of Ireland, that is to say to the European Union. European. This will apply to commercial exchanges, such as the sending of parcels by individuals.
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Certain changes in the rate of VAT or other duties decided by London for the United Kingdom, for example on alcohol, will apply to Northern Ireland, while the constraints on sending and selling in the province animals or certain plants will be removed.
The British authorities, and no longer the European Medicines Agency, will issue marketing authorizations for medicines.
What guarantees in terms of sovereignty?
The maintenance of certain European laws and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland was one of the main sticking points of the protocol for the Unionists.
The “Windsor Framework” provides for the creation of a “brake” available to the Northern Irish Parliament. If 30 MPs from several parties oppose the application in the province of a new European law on goods and goods, they will be able to call a vote to block it, on the model of a provision already existing in the agreement peace of 1998.
This “emergency mechanism”, however, will not take away from the European Court of Justice “the last word” regarding the rules governing the single market still in force in the province, insisted the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Concretely, “less than 3%” of European laws will continue to apply in Northern Ireland, argues London.
With AFP