ABSTRACT – On 27 February 2023, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen reached a political agreement to overcome the deadlock surrounding the Ireland/Northern Protocol. The ‘, named after Windsor Park, where the meetings took place, is a set of joint solutions made of several documents from political declarations to legal acts to be implemented, covering the arrangements on customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT, and the application of EU Law in Northern Ireland (NI). The main document of the Windsor Framework is the EU-UK Joint Committee decision adopted on 24 March 2023, amending the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol. This short comment will first analyze the provisions regarding the movement of goods. Then it will move to the main innovation of the agreement, namely the ‘Stormont Brake’, questioning its effectiveness. Finally, it will reflect on the Windsor Framework’s effect on the long-term EU-UK relationship.
