Divisions around Brexit are expected to be reignited over the coming weeks as the assembly prepares to vote on the Windsor Framework.
The new Labour administration has confirmed that it will uphold its predecessor’s commitments to give MLAs a say in whether to continue to implement the post-Brexit trade arrangements.
The vote, agreed as part of the original protocol deal between the UK and EU, is scheduled to take place before the end of the year, with some suggesting it could happen as early as October.
Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP have all signalled that they will support retention of the framework’s articles 5-10, while unionist parties are expected to vote against.
If passed on a simple majority without cross-community support, as expected, the previous British government said it would commission an independent review into the Windsor Framework and its implications.
The new Labour administration is keen to ensure stronger alignment with the EU, including the signing of a veterinary agreement. However, negotiations on the fresh arrangements have yet to begin and are expected to take at least a year.
Tensions around the post-Brexit trade arrangements could impact on the relatively positive relations that have been evident around the executive table since the institutions were restored in February.
Sinn Féin’s Declan Kearney told The Irish News that the Windsor Framework protected the regional economy from “the worst impacts of Brexit”.
“It is hugely beneficial to our economy and wider society,” he said.
“I am confident it enjoys majority support in the assembly and that this will be manifested in the democratic consent vote later this year.”
But a DUP spokesperson said the party “will not hesitate to vote against” the framework.
“We want to restore Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom, including removing the application of EU law in our country and the internal Irish Sea border it creates,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to argue the case for the full primacy of the United Kingdom internal market and we will continue to reject the undermining of its integrity.”
An Alliance spokesperson said the party “broadly welcomes the Windsor Framework as a mitigation of some of Brexit’s most damaging impacts”.
“We are equally clear, however, that the framework remains an imperfect solution and there are a number of key areas where further work with the EU is required to deliver better implementation, such as with veterinary medicines, ‘Not for EU’ labelling, and support for British-based companies doing business with Northern Ireland,” the spokesperson said.
“People and businesses require stability, not any fresh uncertainty.”
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said outlining a voting intention months before a debate was difficult “as the full effects of the Windsor Framework will not be known until late 2024″ but the party was likely to vote against.
“The Ulster Unionist Party have always said that the Windsor Framework was nothing more than a stepping-stone to an agreement that secures our place within the United Kingdom,” the Upper Bann MLA said.
“That includes ensuring our trading rights are in line with Great Britain – a bespoke veterinary deal and a wider UK/EU data sharing arrangement moves us in that direction.”
SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said his party would expect the executive parties to “vote in favour of maintaining maximum certainty for businesses and investors in Northern Ireland, particularly after the chaos of the post-Brexit years”.
The TUV said if the vote went ahead using a simple majority it would “represents the end of all the supposed constitutional guarantees contained in the Belfast Agreement”.
“The government urgently needs to find reverse gear on this matter.”
