It is now almost a week since UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen signed off on the protocol 2.0 or Windsor Framework as it is more grandly named.
The positive body language between the two and implied royal approval through tea with King Charles all suggests a mutual desire to move on from years of confrontation to coexistence.
The UK prime minister has since been doing the hard sell on the agreement and while he has secured broad business buy-in in Northern Ireland (NI), political acceptance has not been universally secured. The deal also has also to secure approval from parliament.
Hard sell by British prime minister
The UK document feels somewhat like a brochure highlighting the successes that have been secured in the negotiation.
These are real and meaningful in most cases, enabling plants to come from Britain to NI garden centres or supermarkets to take supplies with relatively little additional bureaucracy from supply depots.
The EU documentation is much more sober in tone and focuses on how everything has changed, yet nothing has changed, rather it is more about implementing the original agreement.
The big mistake that had been ongoing up until last week was that the UK rolled over in the original negotiation, arguably without any intention of implementing what they agreed.
Dublin Port has had full EU border controls since the UK left the EU. \ Philip Doyle
On the other side, the EU was determined to have a complete hardline negotiation by way of deterring any further break up and there may also have been an element of making the UK pay for the hassle of Brexit.
The outcome was a protocol that in theory made goods entering Belfast or Larne ports go through the same controls as they would going through Dublin or Rosslare.
Full border controls on internal UK trade impractical
The first problem was that neither Dublin nor Rosslare ports were servicing Asda or Sainsburys supermarkets, where a multitude of certificates were required and simply impractical.
Supermarkets such as ASDA are supplied by distribution centres in Britain.
This and other problems were recognised and never-ending derogation periods became the norm, meaning that, in practice, Belfast and Larne ports never operated like Dublin and Rosslare post-Brexit.
The proposed arrangements in the framework create a fast pass or green lane for goods entering the North from Britain and staying there.
There will be another red lane, in which full border controls will be applied for goods that are for onward delivery to the UK (from the Republic of Ireland) or have potential to enter the EU single market via the Republic of Ireland.
This means that if a meat factory brings a load of carcases back to the North for deboning, they will be subject to the same controls as if they were travelling into the EU single market via Dover or Dublin ports.
Imperfect but can work
This will be a practical solution that will enable the majority of trade between Britain and Northern Ireland to continue uninterrupted.
It has solved the seed potato and British sausages problem, but hasn’t found a mechanism to allow an NI animal, presented at a pedigree sale, return home if it doesn’t meet the price, nor does it address the crop plant protection issue.
It is neither a perfect Brexit nor maintaining a perfect single market
Despite these shortcomings, the framework will solve many practical problems. However, it means it is neither a perfect Brexit nor maintaining a perfect single market.
This is where the political difficulty arises. For hardline Brexit supporters in the UK Conservative party and in NI, the framework is a compromise on pure Brexit. Similarly, for the EU, it is a compromise on perfect policing of the single market.
There are rules for cross-border trade, but these will not prevent an NI resident buying their groceries and drink in Asda Strabane and taking it to a holiday home in Donegal.
It will also not stop anyone from the border counties in the Republic of Ireland shopping in a supermarket north of the border, as they have been doing for years.
This trade was governed by prices and exchange rate and the only difference in future is that they will have to live with labelling on packs that products were for UK only.
Making Brexit work
The new framework, if it is approved, will make Brexit work in so far as Brexit can be made to work for farmers and traders on the island of Ireland.
It isn’t as simple or effective as participation in the customs union and single market by the UK as an EU member was, but that is the practical reality of the UK decision to leave the EU in 2016.
Perhaps last Monday’s meeting between the UK prime minister and the Commission president was the first step on a journey to greater collaboration and, in time, a wider reduction of non-tariff trade barriers.
It is now almost a week since UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen signed off on the protocol 2.0 or Windsor Framework as it is more grandly named.
The positive body language between the two and implied royal approval through tea with King Charles all suggests a mutual desire to move on from years of confrontation to coexistence.
The UK prime minister has since been doing the hard sell on the agreement and while he has secured broad business buy-in in Northern Ireland (NI), political acceptance has not been universally secured. The deal also has also to secure approval from parliament.
Hard sell by British prime minister
The UK document feels somewhat like a brochure highlighting the successes that have been secured in the negotiation.
These are real and meaningful in most cases, enabling plants to come from Britain to NI garden centres or supermarkets to take supplies with relatively little additional bureaucracy from supply depots.
The EU documentation is much more sober in tone and focuses on how everything has changed, yet nothing has changed, rather it is more about implementing the original agreement.
The big mistake that had been ongoing up until last week was that the UK rolled over in the original negotiation, arguably without any intention of implementing what they agreed.
Dublin Port has had full EU border controls since the UK left the EU. \ Philip Doyle
On the other side, the EU was determined to have a complete hardline negotiation by way of deterring any further break up and there may also have been an element of making the UK pay for the hassle of Brexit.
The outcome was a protocol that in theory made goods entering Belfast or Larne ports go through the same controls as they would going through Dublin or Rosslare.
Full border controls on internal UK trade impractical
The first problem was that neither Dublin nor Rosslare ports were servicing Asda or Sainsburys supermarkets, where a multitude of certificates were required and simply impractical.
Supermarkets such as ASDA are supplied by distribution centres in Britain.
This and other problems were recognised and never-ending derogation periods became the norm, meaning that, in practice, Belfast and Larne ports never operated like Dublin and Rosslare post-Brexit.
The proposed arrangements in the framework create a fast pass or green lane for goods entering the North from Britain and staying there.
There will be another red lane, in which full border controls will be applied for goods that are for onward delivery to the UK (from the Republic of Ireland) or have potential to enter the EU single market via the Republic of Ireland.
This means that if a meat factory brings a load of carcases back to the North for deboning, they will be subject to the same controls as if they were travelling into the EU single market via Dover or Dublin ports.
Imperfect but can work
This will be a practical solution that will enable the majority of trade between Britain and Northern Ireland to continue uninterrupted.
It has solved the seed potato and British sausages problem, but hasn’t found a mechanism to allow an NI animal, presented at a pedigree sale, return home if it doesn’t meet the price, nor does it address the crop plant protection issue.
It is neither a perfect Brexit nor maintaining a perfect single market
Despite these shortcomings, the framework will solve many practical problems. However, it means it is neither a perfect Brexit nor maintaining a perfect single market.
This is where the political difficulty arises. For hardline Brexit supporters in the UK Conservative party and in NI, the framework is a compromise on pure Brexit. Similarly, for the EU, it is a compromise on perfect policing of the single market.
There are rules for cross-border trade, but these will not prevent an NI resident buying their groceries and drink in Asda Strabane and taking it to a holiday home in Donegal.
It will also not stop anyone from the border counties in the Republic of Ireland shopping in a supermarket north of the border, as they have been doing for years.
This trade was governed by prices and exchange rate and the only difference in future is that they will have to live with labelling on packs that products were for UK only.
Making Brexit work
The new framework, if it is approved, will make Brexit work in so far as Brexit can be made to work for farmers and traders on the island of Ireland.
It isn’t as simple or effective as participation in the customs union and single market by the UK as an EU member was, but that is the practical reality of the UK decision to leave the EU in 2016.
Perhaps last Monday’s meeting between the UK prime minister and the Commission president was the first step on a journey to greater collaboration and, in time, a wider reduction of non-tariff trade barriers.
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