On Friday 24 March in London, Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly signed the agreement reached at the end of February on the ‘Windsor Framework’, which is designed to make life easier for Northern Irish businesses and citizens (see EUROPE 13130/2).
The agreement, approved this week by the British parliament (see EUROPE 13147/30), was adopted at a meeting of the UK’s EU Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council.
The people of Northern Ireland will benefit from lasting security, the Vice-President commented on Twitter, and both partners will now be able to “realise the full potential” of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
“The meetings took place in a constructive atmosphere”, says a joint statement. “The Joint Committee welcomed the positive approach of both sides and adopted the new arrangements set out in the Windsor Framework. These arrangements address, in a definitive manner, the challenges in the operation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland over the last 2 years and the everyday issues faced by people and businesses in Northern Ireland, while supporting and protecting the Good Friday Agreement”.
The agreement will ensure that the same foodstuffs are available on supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK in the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) area. Retail food products destined for final consumption in Northern Ireland will be able to leave Great Britain with minimal requirements and controls. UK public health standards will apply to retail agri-food products intended for final consumption in Northern Ireland, while EU plant and animal health standards will continue to apply to the protection of the EU single market.
On customs, the agreement proposes an extended ‘trusted trader’ scheme, which will also be open to UK companies.
Link to the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/60s (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)