Ulster Unionist Windsor Framework Spokesperson Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA has called on both the UK Government and the European Union to suspend further implementation of the Windsor Framework following the postponement of anticipated EU-UK talks.

Commenting on the delay, Dr Steve Aiken said:

“Northern Ireland cannot continue to be the collateral damage of UK-EU negotiations. The EU and His Majesty’s Government should demonstrate good faith by suspending further Windsor Framework implementation until agreement is reached on the outstanding issues affecting our businesses, consumers and place within the United Kingdom.

“For months we have been told that some of the most significant problems associated with the Windsor Framework were going to be sorted out at July's EU-UK Summit. Now, with the latest round of the Labour Party's psychodrama, and with no certainty as to who will be sitting in the still barely warm Prime Minister's seat in July, the President of the European Council has delayed the summit.

“It has been delayed to a very uncertain date in the future.

“This is of considerable concern as the United Kingdom has continued to press ahead with its 'faithful implementation' of EU rules and regulations, regardless of the impact on Northern Ireland. In order not to upset negotiations and to demonstrate to the EU that the UK is a highly cooperative partner, expensive border checking facilities have been completed in Larne and Belfast. UK authorities are also pushing ahead with the implementation of increasingly onerous SPS checks and additional Maritime Emissions levies, bringing significant extra costs to our shipping sector, all to show 'good' neighbourliness.

“Lest we forget, the new 'Alliance tax' on parcels, with charges of up to €8 on online purchases from outside the EU and Great Britain, is due to come into effect at the start of next month. We also face a myriad of additional checks and added costs as various grace periods come to an end. All of this further hardens the Irish Sea Border and adds further to the myth of the so-called 'Best of Both Worlds'.

“Many stakeholders have been given months of reassuring words by HMG. Indeed, politicians have been directly encouraged not to 'rock the boat' because everything would supposedly be sorted out in the Narnia-like dreamland of a new EU-UK agreement.

“It is telling that some of our largest retailers, who are evidently being kept better informed than elected representatives, are now raising genuine concerns with HMG and seeking mitigations. Since we are specifically excluded from the negotiation 'tunnel', we have no idea what is or is not within scope. What we do know is that every day without a UK-EU agreement sees divergence, costs and difficulties in doing business continue to grow on either side of the United Kingdom's internal border in the Irish Sea.

“We have previously called for a halt to any further implementation of the EU acquis as it applies under the Protocol and Windsor Framework until the EU-UK talks have concluded. The pace of divergence is accelerating. Unless a pause is called, the damage to intra-UK trade will become irreparable, if it has not already reached that point.

“We are therefore once again calling on both the EU and the UK, as a demonstration of good faith towards the people of Northern Ireland, to suspend any further implementation measures until an agreement is reached.

“As we mark ten years since the Brexit referendum, it is extraordinary that Northern Ireland remains trapped in a cycle of uncertainty, continued implementation and ever-increasing divergence. Whatever position people took in that vote, few could have envisaged that a decade later businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland would still be facing new barriers to trade within their own country. Ten years on, the people of Northern Ireland deserve solutions, not more delays, more costs and more promises that everything will be sorted out at some future date.

“We deserve better, and while mushrooms may be included within any future SPS agreement, there is no excuse for either the British Government or the European Commission continuing to treat everyone in Northern Ireland like one.”