Post-Brexit Trade: The Windsor Framework

After the United Kingdom left the European Union in January 2020, special trading arrangements were put in place to allow Northern Ireland to remain within the EU single market for goods. Those trading arrangements, then known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, allowed trade on the island of Ireland without the requirement for border or customs checks.

To address difficulties that had arisen under the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Windsor Framework was introduced on 25 March 2023. The Windsor Framework and the UK Government’s Safeguarding the Union Command paper that followed it, aimed to simplify customs procedures for the import of goods into Northern Ireland and to continue unfettered access for ‘NI Qualifying Goods’ to be exported to Great Britain.

Our team regularly advise on all aspects of the Windsor Framework including:

• corporate transactions and trading procedures of companies involved in the import and export of medicines, chemicals, plants, seeds, machinery, trees, pets and veterinary medicines within the UK and EU single market
• Brexit due diligence
• Subsidy control
• EU law as retained by the Windsor Framework
• regulatory requirements of licensed entities
• the operation of the Single Electricity Market (the SEM)
• the applicability of updated and proposed updates to EU law to Northern Ireland
• the impact of the powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly, including the Democratic Consent Mechanism, the Stormont Brake, Legislation Consent Motions and the duty to notify the European Commission of certain legislative changes
• the operation of the UK Internal Market Scheme

Our experience includes providing advice relating to the Windsor Framework to private companies and utilities. We have been involved in some of the most high-profile corporate transactions in this jurisdiction since the introduction of the Windsor Framework which have required full diligence processes and advised on the operational impact of the Windsor Framework.

The Windsor Framework will have a growing influence on how businesses operate within Northern Ireland and meet their compliance obligations when exporting and importing goods to, from or through this jurisdiction.

Our lawyers are instructed on a wide-range mandates relating to international businesses’ investment in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We provide legal and strategic advice to companies based in the United States, China, Australia, India, Dublin, London, and throughout Europe on the unique trading and regulatory arrangements in Northern Ireland that facilitates dual-market access.

The team regularly provides training to public sector bodies and utilities on how to navigate the provisions of the regulatory Windsor Framework. We also provide general and bespoke client briefings on legal developments.