After years of tensions and negotiations, the EU and the UK have announced their proposed solution to the problem of trade barriers between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the EU.
The Windsor framework is a political agreement which sets out amendments to the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol. The protocol, a part of the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, was put in place to avoid border checks on goods traded between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It did this by keeping Northern Ireland subject to EU customs and internal market law on goods.
But it has been highly contentious since its inception. Because Northern Ireland is subject to a separate regulatory and customs regime to the rest of the UK, goods entering from Great Britain are subject to checks. In addition to potential trade disruptions, the “Irish Sea border” is seen by some in the unionist community as an affront to their identity and place within the UK.
