Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The EU continues to develop the Windsor Framework, politically agreed between the Commission and the UK Government on 27 February 2023 to definitively address challenges related to Northern Ireland following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
The Council of the European Union adopted on Tuesday in Brussels three regulations aimed at implementing common solutions agreed with the United Kingdom in relation to issues of public health, animal and plant health, medicines and some steel products.
"The new rules will make it considerably easier to transport a range of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland if they are destined for final consumption there," said a European statement issued after a meeting of European Public Affairs Council ministers.
At the same time, safeguards will be put in place to prevent such goods from entering the EU single market and to ensure the protection of public, animal and plant health, as well as the interests of EU consumers.
The three regulations were agreed between the Council and the European Parliament through a fast-track procedure.
“The EU is making good on its promise to swiftly implement jointly agreed solutions, which respond to the daily needs of people and businesses in Northern Ireland, and which the EU has always understood. It is important to continue working to make it fully operational, as well as to ensure that the EU single market is protected.”
According to what was quoted in the European statement, Jessica Roswall, Minister for European Union Affairs in Sweden, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the united bloc.
agricultural food, plants and pets
In practice, the new rules on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which protect animal, public and plant health, will allow retail agri-food products to be transported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for final consumption there with minimal accreditation requirements and controls, once agreed safeguards have been in place. on her.
These guarantees include sanitary and phyto-inspection facilities and the “Not for the EU” label, which will be introduced gradually by 1 July 2025.
The movement of some plants for cultivation, based on a phytosanitary label, will become easier, as will the movement of agricultural machinery. The ban on seed potatoes will be lifted.
Traveling with pets from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be made possible with a simple travel document for the pet, an electronic microchip, and a declaration from the owner that the pet will not be traveling to the EU.
pharmaceutical
Another set of new rules will ensure that all medicines, including new ones, will be available in Northern Ireland at the same time as in the rest of the UK. It will be placed on the market subject to UK rules and authorization procedures. This complements the solution adopted by the European Union in April 2022 for the supply of generic medicines to Northern Ireland.
These new arrangements are accompanied by new safeguards, including labeling ("UK only"), to ensure that medicines do not enter the EU single market.
steel products
The third new legislation would allow certain categories of steel to be transferred from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under EU tariff quotas.
Thus, Northern Ireland companies will no longer need to pay the 25% tariff linked to the EU protectionism currently in place for steel imports into the EU, which will again make transportation economically viable for them. Again, these additional transfers are reflected by appropriate safeguards.
As for the next steps, the European statement, of which we received a copy via e-mail, said:
The three regulations will come into force after they are published in the Official Gazette. It will be complemented by a set of operational procedures to be approved by the Committee.
With regard to SPS measures and medicines, the new arrangements will begin to be phased in once the EU has received appropriate written assurances from the UK on the implementation of the agreed safeguards.