The Windsor Framework was announced by the European Commission and the UK Government on 27 February 2023.

It comprised a series of declarations either adopted at the time or proposed for adoption as well as legal texts proposed for subsequent adoption either jointly in the EU-UK Joint Committee or unilaterally by the EU.

The purpose of the documents, according to the Political Declaration adopted by the European Commission and the UK Goverment, is to provide 'practical and sustainable measures that the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Commission consider necessary to address, in a definitive way, unforeseen circumstances or deficiencies that have emerged since the start of the Protocol'. As such the Windsor Framework was designed to provide a 'new way forward' for the implementation of the Protocol based on 'new data sharing agreements, arrangements on customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT and excise, State aid / subsidy control, as well as specific instruments designed to ensure that the voices of the people of Northern Ireland are better heard on specific issues particularly relevant to the communities there'.

The project webpages have been updated (e.g. Institutional Framework for Managing the Protocol) have been updated and new pages added (e.g. on the Stormont Brakes and stakeholder engagement) to reflect the agreement on the Windsor Framework. For discussions of the Windsor Framework, see the dedicated section under Protocol Analysis. And for how voters in Northern Ireland view the Windsor Framework, see the findings of the 'extra' Testing the Temperature poll (March 2023) commissioned for this project as well as the latest regular Testing the Temperature polls . 

The full set of Windsor Framework documents comprises:

• Political Declaration by the European Commission and the Government of the United Kingdom* (27 February 2023) 
• Decision No 1/2023 of the [EU-UK] Joint Committee... on laying down arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework (adopted 23 March 2023)
• Two Joint Committee Recommendations
  • Recommendation No 1/2023 of the [EU-UK] Joint Committee... on market surveillance and enforcement (made 23 March 2023)
  • Recommendation No 2/2023 of the [EU-UK] Joint Committee... on Article 13(3a) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (made 23 March 2023)
• Five Joint Declarations by the European Commission and the UK Government (made 23 March 2023)
  • Joint Declaration No 1/2023 of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee 
  • Joint Declaration No 2/2023 of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee 
  • Joint Declaration of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee on the VAT regime for goods not being at risk for the Union’s internal market and on the VAT arrangements for cross-border refunds
  • Joint Declaration of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee on the application of Article 10(1) of the Windsor Framework
  • Joint Declaration of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee on the application of Article 13(3a) of the Windsor Framework 
• Five Unilateral Declarations by the UK Government (made 23 March 2023)
  • Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom… on market surveillance and enforcement
  • Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom… on strengthening enforcement action for goods moved in parcels from another part of the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland
  • Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom… on export procedures for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom
  • Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom… on the democratic consent mechanism in Article 18 of the Windsor Framework
  • Unilateral Declaration by the United Kingdom Involvement of the institutions of the 1998 Agreement annexed to Decision No 1/2023 of the Joint Committee
• Four Unilateral Declarations by the European Commission that 'take note' of the first four of the above Unilateral Declarations by the UK Government (made 23 March 2023)
• Three pieces of new secondary EU legislation (proposed 27 February 2023)
  • Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on specific rules relating to medicinal products for human use intended to be placed on the market of Northern Ireland (adopted 14 June 2023)
  • Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on specific rules relating to the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the United Kingdom of certain consignments of retail goods, plants for planting, seed potatoes, machinery and certain vehicles operated for agricultural or forestry purposes, as well as non-commercial movements of certain pet animals into Northern Ireland (adopted 14 June 2023)
  • Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2020/2170 as regards the application of Union tariff rate quotas and other import quotas to certain products transferred to Northern Ireland (adopted 14 June 2023)
• Two pieces of EU delegated legislation
  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/446 of 27 February 2023 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as regards certain plants for planting of Ligustrum delavayanum and Ligustrum japonicum originating in the United Kingdom and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1213 as regards the phytosanitary measures for the introduction of those plants for planting into the Union territory (adopted 27 February 2023)
  • Commission Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 to provide for simplified customs formalities for trusted traders and for sending parcels into Northern Ireland from another part of the United Kingdom
    (adopted 24 March 2023)
• Two Commission Position Papers (27 February 2023)
  • Position paper on agri-food, plants and pet animals 
  • Position paper on simplifications in the area of customs 
• Commission statement on Enhanced engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders (27 February 2023) 
• Amended Rules of Procedure of the Joint Consultative Working Group (March 2023)

Accompanying these documents:

• the European Commission issued
  • a Press Release
  • a Factsheet
  • a Questions and Answers memo
  • a statement from Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen
• the UK Government issued:
  • a Press Release
  • a Command Paper (CP 806) on the Windsor Framework
  • a Legal Position paper
  • a series of sector-specific Explainers

The UK shortly afterwards proposed domestic legislation and an Explanatory Memorandum for a second 'Stormont Brake'.

* While the texts published on the Windsor Framework website of the European Commission and the UK Government are identical in content, the UK Government version of the Political Declaration omits 'Windsor' from the title.