After slow and much-anticipated negotiations, the UK and European Union reached agreement on the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol, now called the Windsor Framework Agreement. This new agreement contains three main points to simplify customs controls between the UK and Northern Ireland and is seen as the start of a new chapter in strained post-Brexit relations, but it has yet to be ratified by the UK Parliament.
The new Brussels-London deal, announced after negotiations between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, aims to defuse a multi-year dispute over the system of customs controls between Britain and Northern Ireland.
The agreement raises three main points. The first is the introduction of restrictions on the export of goods between the islands of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union to avoid the bureaucracy that currently exists in the Irish Sea, which gives the impression of a border within British territory.
The second point relates to VAT payments and additional taxes. Changes made in the UK apply immediately in Northern Ireland, including regulations that would apply in both areas.
Third, the deal provides for the so-called “Stormont brake,” which aims to give regions more sovereignty over their laws and give them the power to oppose EU action on goods. The EU judge won’t be the only one responsible for settling disputes.
What’s next? What depends on whether the agreement is approved by both parties? Does it have to be approved by legislators on both sides of the Channel for it to be implemented? How is Brexit after this new announcement? We analyze it together with our guests.
scar Guardiola, writer and professor at Birkbeck College, University of London
Dámaso Morales Ramrez, Coordinator of the Center for European Studies of the Faculty of Political Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
