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Real progress made but some areas causing concern, says Donaldson

Updated / Wednesday, 1 Mar 2023 07:38
Jeffrey Donaldson said his party will take time to consider the deal (file pic)
Jeffrey Donaldson said his party will take time to consider the deal (file pic)

The leader of the DUP has said that he thinks real progress has been made on Brexit talks, but there are some areas that continue to cause concern.

Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Jeffrey Donaldson said the DUP has asked lawyers who are experts in constitutional law to examine the Windsor Framework.

The new deal, known as the Windsor Framework, removes barriers on trade across the Irish Sea and hands a "veto" to politicians in Stormont on EU law - a set of concessions from Brussels that went further than some expected.

"We will take time to study this," Mr Donaldson said.

"Is it quite a complex framework. We've got the legal text, we have asked some lawyers to look at that who are experts in constitutional law, we are looking at the political declaration that accompanies the legal text and of course the UK government's command paper."

Mr Donaldson said the DUP is also looking at the EU papers and he said it is very interesting to look at what the EU is saying and the UK government is saying and as there are clear differences, the DUP needs to get clarity on certain key elements of the framework agreement.

"The issues of concern that we have, we will take them to the government, we will seek clarity on some of those matters," he said.

Mr Donaldson said what needs to be ensured is that any continuation of EU law for the purpose of cross border trade "does not inhibit our ability to trade within the United Kingdom and its internal market".

This, he said, is "absolutely key" for the DUP.

Earlier, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney said the deal is a "really positive development" but that no one should be rushed to endorse or support it.

He said the deal shows the EU has really listened to the concerns expressed by groups in Northern Ireland, particularly unionist groups.

Mr Coveney said he hopes everyone can see this deal as a stepping stone to a "much more positive" relationship between the UK and EU and between the UK and Ireland.

He said this has been a very difficult issue for the DUP and unionism, but added that many of the issues addressed in the deal are not new.

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"These issues aren't new ... a green and a red lane proposal is something that has been considered and discussed for many, many months now. Dealing with pets, parcels and medicines."

Mr Coveney said the Stormont brake is essentially a "democratic red flag" that can be raised in Stormont and will run along the lines of petition of concern, which, he said, has been very much part of politics in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement.

Asked about the Stormont brake, Mr Donaldson said it was his understanding that it that it only requires 30 signatures in a petition and does not need cross-party support as it is "not the petition of concern. They are two different concepts although they operate in similar ways.

"But my understanding is that if the two unionist parties, for example, secure 30 signatures, if there were a cross community vote, of course, unionists would raise their concern and that would trigger the mechanism anyway.

"The fact that two parties trigger this and there are 30 signatures effectively means the Stormont brake is applied."

Former DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds pressed the UK government for clarification over the provisions of the Windsor Framework.

Speaking in the House of Lords he said: "The crucial question is whether or not people in Northern Ireland continue to be denied equal status democratically and constitutionally with our fellow countrymen and women as the result of consequences for separation and economic divergence from the rest of the United Kingdom?"

Responding, Tory leader of the House of Lords Nicholas True said that under the revised deal only 3% of EU law would remain in place in Northern Ireland, with some 1,700 pages removed.

Additional reporting PA

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