Latest On New Northern Ireland Trade Deal

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced the 'Windsor Framework' as a new deal with the EU for moving goods to and from Northern Ireland, but the deal hasn't been finalised yet and is now being vetted by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The DUP have not confirmed their backing of the proposed deal and have now launched a review process, with an eight-person panel, to assess whether they will be supporting the new agreement.

The review process is not expected to complete until April, before a ballot is brought before UK parliament to finalise. It is understood that the European Commision will be in a position to vote and potentially confirm the deal by the end of March.

Should the voting be in favour of the new deal, a phased implementation is expected to roll out this year.

The main elements of the Windsor Framework include:

• Goods from Britain destined for Northern Ireland will travel through a new “green lane”, with a separate “red lane” for goods at risk of moving on to the EU.
• Products coming into Northern Ireland through the green lane will see checks and paperwork significantly reduced, while red lane goods will still be subject to normal checks.
• A “Stormont brake” allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to raise an objection to “significantly different” new EU rules which would apply in Northern Ireland.
• Northern Ireland would also no longer have to follow certain EU rules, for example on VAT and excise for some drinks and goods.

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