To all the agreements designed to bring about working and workable politics in Northern Ireland we can now add the "Windsor Framework."
But the immediate question surrounding a deal aimed at copper fastening a new Northern Ireland Protocol deal is: Will it work?
The framework, coming on the heels of lengthy negotiations between the EU and UK, was announced Monday by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen.
Mr. Sunak said there will be a parliamentary vote on the framework "and it will be respected."
He said he and Ms. Von der Leyen had made a “decisive breakthrough” by agreeing the Windsor Framework, and this had “changed” the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“It is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship,” said Mr. Sunak. “We have had our differences in the past, but we are allies.”
According to the Irish Times, Sunak said the agreement would “end the uncertainty” for the people of Northern Ireland.
The deal, which will be subject to a vote at the “appropriate time," includes green and red lanes for imports into the North. It returns to Westminster the power to set all Value Added Tax rates.
It contains safeguards to ensure that all supermarket goods and medicines available in Britain will automatically be available in the North. And it includes a “Stormont brake” giving the North’s Assembly an “emergency” mechanism to stop EU laws applying with which it disagrees.
“If the brake is pulled, the UK government has a veto,” said Mr. Sunak, who insisted it was a “powerful safeguard."
The "brake" would also appear to be a more immediate political safeguard against likely blowback from hard core Tory Brexiteers at Westminster, and possibly the Democratic Unionist Party which has been boycotting Stormont as a result of the existing Northern Ireland Protocol
“We knew it was not going to be easy," said Von der Leyen.
Following her press conference at Windsor Castle with Mr. Sunak, Ms. Von der Leyen met with King Charles.
Such a meeting was more than just a courtesy call. The images from it will be significant in the eyes of all in the UK, politicians and public.
In an initial reaction from the U.S., Congressman Brendan Boyle, Co-Chair of the Congressional EU Caucus, stated: “I enthusiastically commend negotiators from the European Union and the British government for reaching a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
"In particular, I want to thank British Prime Minister Sunak, EU Commission President von der Leyen, and EU Commission Vice President Sefcovic. It is now incumbent upon all of the parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to return to government and make the institutions work for all.”
