On 27 February 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced the UK and the EU had reached a political agreement setting out new provisions for trade between Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain (GB). The agreement followed months of negotiations between the UK and EU to address outstanding concerns related to the Northern Ireland Protocol, including on the movement of goods between GB and NI, state aid rules, and medicines, among others. The new agreement, called “The Windsor Framework”, is a significant achievement, and it recognises the economic and political challenges created by the original Northern Ireland Protocol.

In this paper, BritishAmerican Business analyses what led to to the signing of this agreement, why it matters, and what you need to know.