The United Kingdom and the European Union yesterday announced a much long-awaited new deal for post-Brexit trading arrangements for goods travelling from the GB entering Northern Ireland.
The historic deal reached was in a bid to conclude a row that has overshadowed ties between Britain and the EU since Brexit took place with the Withdrawal Agreement Act implemented in January 2020.
The Windsor Framework deal seeks to resolve tensions caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, a complex agreement which set trading rules for Northern Ireland that London agreed before it left the EU but now says are unworkable.
As RTE News reports, below are the key components of the Windsor Framework as outlined by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen:
Green and Red lanes
When the UK left as member state of the EU, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson had agreed to a deal that effectively left Northern Ireland within the EU bloc's single market for goods because of its open border with the Republic of Ireland. This therefore creating a customs border with Britain.
Prior to yesterday’s agreement, the UK government had wanted to reduce the number of checks carried out on goods travelling across the Irish Sea from Britain to Northern Ireland.
Under the terms of the Windsor Framework, both sides have reached an agreement to separate goods just going to Northern Ireland, whereas those bound for the Republic of Ireland will go into "green" and "red" lanes.
The new trading procedures is designed to reduce the amount of paperwork that face companies, as they said they were unable to provide a full range of products entering Northern Ireland. The reason, cited companies was due to the numerous port control checks which became too onerous.
RTE News has more on the major agreement reached following the political impasse of recent years.
