Foreign secretary to meet with the European Commission vice president today to formally sign off Windsor framework
Good morning. Earlier this week, when it announced that its MPs would be voting against the Windsor framework, the revised version of the Northern Ireland framework negotiated by the UK government and the EU, the DUP said that the deal required “further clarification, re-working and change”.
But it’s too late. They’ve missed the boat. On Tuesday the EU formally accepted the deal, yesterday Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, said there would be “no renegotiating of that deal”, and this morning James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, and Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice president, will sign it off. By lunchtime, it will be a done deal.
By formally approving the Windsor framework, we are delivering on our commitment to provide stability and certainty for Northern Ireland.
The framework is the best deal for Northern Ireland, safeguarding its place in the Union and protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement.
The partnership council will cover wider UK-EU cooperation, including on issues such as the UK’s access to EU science and research programmes, energy, trade and security.
The UK will continue to work with the EU in a range of areas including research collaboration, but also strengthening sanctions against Russia as well as energy security, and illegal migration.