Northern Ireland strains on EU-UK ties will persist

Significance

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now focused on selling the agreement to Eurosceptics in the Conservative Party and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The outcome will be crucial for the future of EU-UK relations and restoring Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive.

Impacts

• Implementing the Windsor Framework would improve the prospects of EU-UK cooperation in areas such as financial regulation and security.
• Either supporting or rejecting the agreement involves significant risks for the DUP’s unity and support.
• The UK regulatory divergence agenda threatens to create further tensions with the EU over Northern Ireland for the next few years.