The UK government is set to decide on Monday whether to allow the “Stormont brake” to be pulled. The brake, which is part of Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal, gives the assembly the power to object to changes to EU rules that apply in Northern Ireland. It is up to the government to decide whether the brake can be formally triggered.
A Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) motion to pull the brake was backed by all eligible unionist assembly members in December. The motion was aimed at stopping new EU rules on packaging and labelling of chemicals from coming in. The brake formed part of an overall package of measures known as the Windsor Framework that was agreed by the UK and EU two years ago, aimed at resolving problems with post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.
If the government has determined that the conditions have been met, it will formally notify the EU and the new or changed law will not apply. There would then be “intensive consultation” between the UK and EU on the matter. The Joint Committee, the UK-EU body responsible for overseeing the Brexit deal, would be required to discuss the rule in question.
If the UK decided not to adopt the rule, the EU could take “appropriate remedial measures”, which could include measures to address the fact that NI goods may no longer fully comply with EU law. The move by unionist parties before Christmas is being viewed as a first test of the mechanism since power-sharing returned at Stormont almost 12 months ago. Unionist parties had a two-month “scrutiny period” from the publication of the EU law to make their request and for the government to respond, making Monday the deadline for a decision by Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn
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