How does the ‘Stormont Brake’ affect the Protocol?

After months of negotiating, Rishi Sunak has today unveiled his changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. They focus on three key areas – trade, regulatory divergence and the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). At a press conference today, Sunak outlined these under the so-called ‘Windsor Framework’ agreed with the European Commission.

The first area of dispute has been trade – and it is here that Rishi Sunak has secured his most consumer-friendly ‘wins’. There has effectively been a customs border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 2020. Presently all goods are treated as though they are going into the European Union, despite Northern Ireland not being a member. This means that lorries have had to carry up to 500 different certificates for each consignment. 

Sunak intends to address this via a ‘trusted trader scheme’ to avoid all checks when moving goods from England, Wales and Scotland to Northern Ireland.