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Joint Committee

Overall responsibility for the implementation of the Protocol rests with the UK-EU Joint Committee that oversees implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement generally. It comprises EU and UK representatives at ministerial/Commissioner or senior official level. Its roles and responsibilities are set out in Article 164 of the Withdrawal Agreement. Chief among them is the adoption of formal Decisions (Article 166), several of which concerning the implementation of the Protocol were adopted in December 2020. A number of unilateral declarations concerning inter alia grace periods for the implementation of certain obligations under the Protocol was also adopted and noted.

The Joint Committee's rules of procedure are set out in Annex VIII to the Withdrawal Agreement. For discussions of its roles see Protocol Analysis.

The EU's position in the Joint Committee is determined in line with Article 2 of Council Decision (EU) 2020/135. The Decision also provides for member state representatives to accompany the Commission at meetings. Ireland is specifically mentioned, although representatives of other members have also attended meetings. 

The UK government is committed to ensuring that representatives from the Northern Ireland Executive are invited to be part of the UK delegation in any meetings of the Joint Committee discussing Northern Ireland-specific matters which are also being attended by the Irish Government as part of the EU delegation. It recalled the committment in the Windsor Framework, stating its intention 'to ensure full participation of the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom’s delegation to the Joint Committee, and in that context its determination to ensure that the application of the Windsor Framework should impact as little as possible on the everyday life of communities'.

The Withdrawal Agreement provides for annual meetings of the Joint Committee, but in practice it meets more frequently - four meetings were envisaged for 2021, for example - and between meetings there is often formal correspondence been the co-chairs from the UK government and the European Commission.

Details of the meetings and the correspondence between the co-chairs are provided below. NB there are inconsistencies in the numbering of the meetings in some statements. This depends whether the 'Extraordinary' meeting on 10 September 2020 is included. Following the sixth meeting in February 2021, the numbering includes the 'Extraordinary' meeting.  

The formal Decisions adopted and the unilateral declarations noted by the UK and the EU on the Joint Committee are available here.

The Joint Committee also produces an Annual Report. The first - the Annual Report for 2020 - was published in July 2021. Adoption and publication of the Annual Report for 2021 was delayed owing to the failure of the Joint Committee to meet for more than twelve months after February 2022. It was eventually published in April 2023. The Annual Report for 2022 was adopted in July 2023. The Annual Report for 2023 was adopted in May 2024.

Date Meeting
16.05.2024 Thirteenth Meeting: agenda, Joint Statement; meeting involved the adoption of a joint Decision to amend previous joint Decision (1/2023) and adoption of a second joint Decision to add a new EU act to Annex 2 of the Protocol.
28.09.2023 Twelfth Meeting: agenda, Joint Statement; meeting involved adoption of a joint Decision adding two new EU acts to Annex 2 of the Protocol and a UK and an EU declaration on the meeting of obligations for the implementation of the Windsor Framework
03.07.2023 Eleventh Meeting: agenda, Joint Statement; meeting involved adoption of a joint Decision adding two new EU acts implementing Windsor Framework commitments to Annex 2 of the Protocol.  
24.03.2023 Tenth Meeting: agenda, Joint Statement, statement - European Commission; meeting involved adoption of joint Decisions and Recommendations concerning the Windsor Framework as well as joint and unilateral declarations 
21.02.2022 Ninth MeetingagendaJoint Statement, press statement - Šefčovič
09.06.2021 Eighth Meetingagenda, statements - European CommissionUK Government, press statement - Šefčovič
16.04.2021 Informal Meeting of Co-Chairs: statements - European CommissionUK Government
15.03.2021 
Šefčovič letter to Frost
24.02.2021 Sixth MeetingagendaJoint Statement
11.02.2021 Informal Meeting of Co-Chairs: Joint Statement (Gove and Šefčovič)
10.02.2021 Šefčovič letter to Gove
03.02.2021 Informal Meeting of Co-Chairs: Joint Statement (Gove and Šefčovič)
02.02.2021 Gove letter to Šefčovič 
17.12.2020 Fifth Meeting: agenda, summary minutes, statements - European Commission, UK Government,
08.12.2020 Informal Meeting of Co-Chairs: Joint Statement (Gove and Šefčovič)
19.10.2020 Fourth Meeting: agenda, statements - European CommissionUK Government
28.09.2020 Third Meeting: agenda, statements - European Commission, UK Government
10.09.2020 Extraordinary Meeting: no agenda, statements - European CommissionUK Government
12.06.2020 Second Meeting: agenda, statements - European Commission, UK Government,
30.03.2020 First Meetingagenda, statements - European CommissionUK Government
19.03.2020 Joint Statement of Co-Chairs (Gove and Šefčovič)