UK and EU formally adopt the Windsor Framework
On Friday, 24 March, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met in London to sign the Windsor Framework, formalising the agreement announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last month. Mr Cleverly heralded the deal as “something which protected the EU’s single market, protected the UK’s internal market but most importantly protected the elements of the Belfast Agreement.”
Despite the thawing of relations between the UK and EU, the Windsor Framework has not attracted support from all quarters. Last week, in advance of a vote in the House of Commons, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Jeffrey Donaldson made it clear that his party would not be endorsing the deal. In a statement, Mr Donaldson highlighted issues from his party’s perspective with the ‘Stormont brake’ mechanism. He said: “Notwithstanding the issues and conditions which have to be met to make the brake work it remains the case that the brake is not designed for, and therefore cannot apply, to the EU law which is already in place and for which no consent has been given for its application.”
In a House of Commons vote on the specific issue of the Stormont brake, the government won support for its deal from an overwhelming majority of parliament, with 515 MPs voting in favour and only 29 against. The Labour party voted unanimously in favour of the deal, while there were some notable defections within the Tory party. These included former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, as well as Jacob Rees-Mogg, a prominent figure within the ardently pro-Brexit European Research Group.
Following last Friday’s ratification, the DUP has remained steadfast in its opposition. DUP MP Gregory Campbell maintains that ratification is “not the final word” and that “both communities [unionist and nationalist] have to buy in and we don’t buy into this one so we have to alter, change or adapt it”. Furthermore, Mr Donaldson indicated that the current deal would not be sufficient to persuade the DUP to resume the power sharing agreement in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has now been inactive for almost a full year.
It became evident this week that tensions in Northern Ireland have now reached boiling point. On Tuesday, MI5 increased the terrorism threat level from substantial to severe, meaning that an attack is deemed to be highly likely. This decision by security service comes only a month after senior police officer John Caldwell was shot by masked gunmen in County Tyrone, an attack for which the new IRA claimed responsibility.
Notwithstanding the increased security risk, US President Joe Biden has confirmed that his trip to Ireland to mark the 25-year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement will not be hampered. Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, President Biden was asked if he was concerned about the increased threat level, to which he responded: “No. They can’t keep me out.”