Windsor deal eases internal UK trade friction greatly

Significance

There are also notable changes to medicines, value-added tax (VAT) and excise. EU single-market rules for goods continue to apply to Northern Ireland-based production, meaning no trade barriers to exports to the EU. Access to the rest of the United Kingdom remains mostly unfettered.

Impacts

• The EU is very unlikely to reopen the legal text of the agreement, but would be open to providing further clarity on certain issues.
• If the deal is successfully implemented, Northern Ireland could become one of the more economically prosperous UK regions.
• As Northern Ireland will be treated differently from the United Kingdom, opposition to the deal will persist among hardline unionists,