Brexit & Beyond newsletter

17 April 2023

Welcome to the 17 April 2023 Brexit & Beyond newsletter

Events are taking place to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. US President Joe Biden visited Northern Ireland last week. Queen’s University has published its latest polling on the Protocol / Windsor Framework. The Retained EU Law Bill has been removed from forthcoming business in the House of Lords. The Government has published its plans for the UK’s post-Brexit border controls. The EU and UK have held initial discussions about the UK’s association to the Horizon programme; the UK has also published its plans for an alternative scheme.

 

25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

The US President Joe Biden visited Northern Ireland last Wednesday, 12 April. He gave a speech at Ulster University and briefly referred to Brexit, saying it “created complex challenges here in Northern Ireland.  And I encouraged the leaders of the UK and EU to address the issues in a way that served Northern Ireland’s best interests.” He stated, “The Windsor Framework addresses the practical realities of Brexit and…it’s an essential step to ensuring hard-earned peace and progress of the Good Friday Agreement [are]…preserved and strengthened. You know, the negotiators listened to business leaders across the UK and Ireland who shared what they needed to succeed. And I believe the stability and predictability offered by this framework will encourage greater investment in Northern Ireland.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a bilateral meeting with the US President Joe Biden during his visit to Northern Ireland

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a bilateral meeting with the US President Joe Biden during his visit to Northern Ireland | Source: Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street

Biden met with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties. The US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, also gave a speech and is spending some time in Northern Ireland, visiting businesses and attending further events to mark the anniversary.

Hillary Clinton, who has travelled to NI for a series of events at Queen’s University to mark the 1998 agreement, said on Sunday, “Given the Windsor agreement, this is an opportunity unlike any for economic development, growth, investment, business expansion - because Northern Ireland now has a unique and privileged position."

 

QUB polling on the Protocol

Queen’s University Belfast has published the results of its poll on attitudes towards the Protocol, conducted on 18-20 March 2023 – three weeks after the EU and UK agreed the Windsor Framework.

Most voters view the Windsor Framework positively: 65% agree that the Framework “reflects a genuine effort on the part of the UK Government and the European Commission to address the concerns raised by people and businesses in Northern Ireland about the Protocol”; 26% disagree. 61% of voters want MLAs to vote in favour of the continued application of the Protocol in the 2024 democratic consent vote. This figure was 51% in the February 2023 poll.

 

 Views on how MLAs should vote on the Protocol / Windsor Framework in 2024

Views on how MLAs should vote on the Protocol / Windsor Framework in 2024 | Source: QUB

A significant minority continues to oppose the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland: 23% of respondents will only vote for candidates in the next Northern Ireland Assembly election who want to scrap the Protocol and/or the Windsor Framework. 43% respondents agree that the Stormont Brake is “an appropriate means for MLAs to influence changes to EU law applicable under the Protocol”; 35% disagree.

69% think that NI’s economy could benefit from the new arrangements in the Windsor Framework (an increase from 62% in February 2023). Commitments from the EU and UK to increase stakeholder and political engagement in NI are seen as welcome and important by 77% of respondents.

 

Retained EU Law Bill

The Retained EU Law (REUL) Bill has been removed from forthcoming business in the House of Lords. Lords were set to vote on it on 19 and 24 April. Politics Home reports that the Government now plans to hold report stage in the Lords on 15 and 17 May. The Observer reports that the Government dropped its plans for the next stage of the Bill “apparently to prevent a row in the run-up to the local elections on 4 May and to allow it time to consider a list of likely concessions to rebels”. The newspaper reports that a cross-party group of Lords have been meeting to discuss how to amend the Bill. Concerns have been raised about the volume of work the Bill creates for the civil service, its potential impact on environmental and workers’ protections, and the lack of provision for parliamentary oversight.

In a letter to the European Scrutiny Committee in March, Kemi Badenoch, Minster for Business and Trade, stated that the Government “is committed to taking full advantage of [its] regulatory freedoms post-Brexit.” She said there are 52 civil servants working on the REUL Repeal and Reform Programme and the REUL Bill in the department’s Brexit Opportunities Unit, as well as those in government departments.

 

UK’s post-Brexit border controls

The UK Government has published a draft Border Target Operating Model, which sets out its approach to its border controls post-Brexit. It is set to be gradually introduced from the end of October 2023. The document has been developed with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, and officials from Northern Ireland. Checks include documentary, identity and physical checks on plants products of animal origin, live animals, and high-risk foods. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, said the publication is “a huge step forward for the safety, security and efficiency of our borders”. The UK’s introduction of full border controls has been delayed several times. The BBC reports criticism from a trade body which says the checks could deter EU suppliers and increase costs.

The additional checks and controls will not apply to imports into NI from the EU. In the document, the UK Government again commits to introducing legislation to guarantee ‘unfettered access’ for goods moving from NI to GB, “avoiding burdens for Northern Irish goods on both direct Northern Ireland-GB and indirect Northern Ireland-Ireland-GB routes.”

The Government wishes to engage with stakeholders on the draft plans through its online survey, before the final version is published in early June.

 

UK’s participation in Horizon Europe

On 4 April, Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan met the EU Research and Innovation Commissioner Mariya Gabriel in Brussels “to discuss research collaboration including the UK’s expectations around association with Horizon Europe” (the EU’s research and innovation funding programme). A press release states, “The UK welcomes the EU’s recent willingness to engage in discussions on UK association to EU programmes. Discussions will need to reflect the lasting impact of 2 years of delays to the UK’s association.” On 6 April, the Government published the prospectus for its alternative scheme, ‘Pioneer’, should it not join Horizon Europe. Minister Donelan said, “We hope our negotiations [with the EU on Horizon] will be successful, and that is our preference, but it must be on the right terms. We must ensure we have an ambitious alternative ready to go should we need it and that our businesses and researchers have fed into it.”

UK Science Minister Michelle Donelan

UK Science Minister Michelle Donelan | Source: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

Meanwhile, in a letter to the Prime Minister, 30 leading business figures urge him to prioritise the UK’s associate membership of Horizon. The letter warns that an alternative UK scheme “could not recreate” the benefits of the EU programme. On Wednesday, the Commons Science and Technology Committee is holding an evidence session with research and university leaders on Horizon Europe negotiations.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains provisions for the UK to continue participation in some EU funded programmes, including Horizon. However, formalisation of this arrangement was stalled by the EU because of the dispute over the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

 

Other news