Governance of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and Windsor Framework

• Withdrawal Agreement

  • Joint Committee
  • Specialised Committee
  • Joint Consultative Working Group

Withdrawal Agreement

Oversight bodies were established within the Withdrawal Agreement to ensure the proper implementation and application of the agreement. There are three tiers of governance, each reporting upwards to the other.

a)       Joint Committee

The primary tier of governance is the Joint Committee which is responsible for the implementation and application of the Withdrawal Agreement (WA). Six Specialised Committees sit under the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee has the power to amend the WA in certain areas but cannot change essential elements of it. The Committee provides a forum to resolve disputes regarding its application and if no solution can be found, disputes will be referred to an arbitration panel. In December 2020 the Joint Committee published a list of 25 persons who would be able to serve as members of an arbitration panel.

Governance structure for the Withdrawal Agreement

The Joint Committee was tasked with taking decisions by the end of the transition period on areas relating to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland* such as the definition of ‘not at risk’ goods, agricultural subsidies, and the presence of EU representatives in Northern Ireland. The Joint Committee furthermore keeps under review EU and UK efforts to facilitate trade between NI and GB, the implementation of EU VAT rules in NI, and considers whether new EU acts are in the scope of the Windsor Framework and should be therefore included in the list of EU law applying to Northern Ireland.

*In March 2023, the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland was renamed the Windsor Framework.

UK Foreign Minister Lord Cameron co-chairs the Joint Committee, alongside European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. Previously the role had been held on the UK side by James Cleverly (then Foreign Secretary) until November 2023, Liz Truss (then Foreign Secretary) until September 2022, David Frost (then Minister of State at the Cabinet Office with responsibility for EU Exit) until December 2021, and Michael Gove (then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) until March 2020. The Joint Committee is the only decision-making structure within the three tiers of governance. In the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ agreement which restored devolved government to Northern Ireland, the UK Government made a commitment to ensure:

“that representatives from the Northern Ireland Executive are invited to be part of the UK delegation in any meetings of the UK-EU Specialised or Joint Committees discussing Northern Ireland specific matters which are also being attended by the Irish Government as part of the European Union’s delegation.”

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron and Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič | Source: European Union 2023 / EC - Audiovisual Service

The Joint Committee first met in March 2020. It held a significant meeting in December 2020 to adopt decisions relating to the implementation of the Protocol which clarified issues including the criteria for ‘not at risk’ goods entering NI, the application of EU state aid rules, and grace periods for medicines and meat products. On 24 March 2023, the Joint Committee adopted the new arrangements set out in the Windsor Framework. The Framework revises the Protocol in various areas, including customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT and excise, and includes a new mechanism for the involvement of the NI institutions. While the Joint Committee meetings take place in private, the EU and UK publish statements and any decisions adopted following the meetings. You can find this information on the UK Government’s Withdrawal Agreement webpage.

Previous meetings of the Joint Committee:

The Joint Committee issues an annual report on the functioning of the Withdrawal Agreement. The first report for 2020 was published in June 2021. The Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee annual report for 2021 was published in April 2023.

b)       Specialised Committee

In the second tier of governance, there are six Specialised Committees which report to the Joint Committee.  These Specialised Committees focus on key areas within the Withdrawal Agreement and there is a Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework (previously called the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland). Article 14 of the Protocol/Windsor Framework states that the Specialised Committee on Northern Ireland should “examine proposals concerning the implementation and application of this Protocol from the North-South Ministerial Council and North-South Implementation bodies set up under the 1998 Agreement” and “consider any matter of relevance to Article 2 of this Protocol brought to its attention by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, and the Joint Committee of representatives of the Human Rights Commissions of Northern Ireland and Ireland”.  The Specialised Committee is attended by officials from the UK and EU, including from the NI Executive. It first met in April 2020. You can find further details and statements from the meetings on the UK Government’s website.

In the Windsor Framework, the EU and UK agreed that the Specialised Committee can meet in a specific composition, the Special Body on Goods, where the EU and UK would exchange views on any future UK legislation on goods, which is relevant to the operation of the Windsor Framework. It will assess the potential impact of the legislation in Northern Ireland, and “anticipate and discuss any practical difficulties at stake”. Stakeholders may be invited to attend and it may make recommendations to the Joint Committee. [See the Joint EU- UK declaration on dialogue and goods]

An Enhanced Coordination Mechanism on VAT and excise was also established in the Windsor Framework. This format of the Specialised Committee is to assist the Joint Committee in reviewing the implementation and application of Article 8 of the Framework, which applies EU law on VAT and excise in Northern Ireland. It will exchange information and consult on future UK and EU VAT and excise legislation. [See the decision of the Joint Committee]. Its first meeting was held on on 15 June 2023.

Meetings of the Specialised Committee on the implementation of the Windsor Framework:

c)      Joint Consultative Working Group

The third tier of governance is the Joint Consultative Working Group (JCWG).  Its function is outlined in the Windsor Framework to “serve as a forum for the exchange of information and mutual consultation”, including in relation to the implementation of EU law in Northern Ireland, and amendments or replacements to applicable EU legislation. The JCWG carries out its functions under the supervision of the Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework, to which it reports.

The Working Group is the forum where the EU will inform the UK about “planned [European] Union acts within the scope of this Protocol, including Union acts that amend or replace the Union acts listed in the Annexes to this Protocol”, in other terms, the EU legislation which applies to Northern Ireland. [Source: Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland]

The group should meet once a month, according to the Protocol/Windsor Framework. The draft Rules of Procedure for the JCWG were drawn up following discussions between the EU and UK. The EU Council approved the EU’s position in October 2020, and at the first meeting of the JCWG the rules of procedure were agreed by the EU and UK. In the UK Government Explanatory Memorandum on the proposed rules of the procedure for the Joint Consultative Working Group, the Government committed to inviting officials from the Northern Ireland Executive to form part of the UK delegation to the JCWG meetings.

In the Windsor Framework, the EU and UK agreed to set up “structured sub-groups” to support the work of the Joint Consultative Working Group, where stakeholder input will inform discussions. The JCWG’s rules of procedure were amended by the Windsor Framework. Five structured sub-groups have been established.

When the Windsor Framework was announced, the European Commission also published a document on enhanced engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders. It set out the following engagement measures:

• The European Commission’s annual Work Programme will be discussed with NI stakeholders, and in the JCWG.
• New EU initiatives relevant to NI will be published on the Commission’s webpage on the Protocol, as will relevant public consultations.
• The Commission will publish the implications for Northern Ireland of new policy initiatives in its impact assessments.

Meetings of the Joint Consultative Working Group (JCWG):

The Joint Consultative Working Group met ten times in 2022, and eight times in 2021, according to the annual reports for the Joint Committee.

Junior Ministers from the Executive Office (TEO) have regularly briefed the Committee for the Executive Office on EU Exit matters. The following information has previously been provided about the Joint Consultative Working Group.