15 November 2023 - Regulatory Divergence and the Windsor Framework - Oral evidence

Background

As part of its ongoing scrutiny of the Windsor Framework, the Committee's new inquiry will assess the effect of regulatory divergence in Northern Ireland; how easy or difficult it is to get information on where there is divergence; whether there should be better mechanisms for logging and tracking divergence; whether the mechanisms in the Windsor Framework for managing divergence are effective. Regulatory divergence is the development of differences in the legal standards separately imposed by the European Union and the United Kingdom for the manufacturing, import, export and marketing of goods and services. As part of the evidence gathering process, the Committee will be holding public evidence sessions over the coming weeks with legal and policy experts, trade bodies and business representatives, and others. There will be no public call for evidence for this short inquiry but anyone wishing to submit written evidence should contact the Secretariat on hlprotocol@parliament.uk

Possible questions include:

• How would you describe the issue of regulatory divergence, in the context of the Windsor Framework?
• What impact, if any, has the agreement of the Windsor Framework had on the issue of regulatory divergence?
• What do you think are the main risks or opportunities in relation to regulatory divergence now and in the future?
• Is divergence primarily an issue concerning trade in goods under the terms of the Windsor Framework? To what extent does the issue have potentially wider impact on individual rights (Article 2) and, beyond the scope of the Windsor Framework, with regard to services, for example?
• What is your assessment of the Windsor Framework’s mechanisms to manage divergence, including the new Special Goods Body and the role of the Office of the Internal Market (as described in the UK Government’s Command Paper, The Windsor Framework: a new way forward)?
• Are you aware of any Government attempts to track instances of regulatory divergence of relevance to the Windsor Framework?
• Has the UK Government and the EU done enough to make information on regulatory divergence easily accessible, whether it results from legislative developments in either the EU or GB
• How much engagement has there been between the UK Government and sectors affected by divergence? Has this been sufficient, in your view?

Further information

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