Why is the DUP trying to pull the Stormont brake?

The DUP is trying, for the first time, to pull the ‘Stormont Brake’.

The brake is the mechanism built in to the Windsor Framework to give MLAs at Stormont a say on changes to EU laws which will apply in Northern Ireland.

The Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee at Stormont has since February been considering and debating all sorts of EU legislation which has an impact in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps the issue it has discussed which has received the most attention was the EU’s plan to ban the use of dental amalgam for fillings from January 2025. The committee considered the change and listened to evidence from dentists and the Department of Health who said making the change so quickly would cause real problems for patients in Northern Ireland.

Unionists made noises that the Stormont Brake should be used then.

Eventually the EU agreed during the summer that the change should be delayed and instead phased in in Northern Ireland over 10 years.

So why is the DUP trying to pull the brake now?

The EU is changing laws around the packaging and labelling of chemicals.

The Windsor Framework committee has been looking at this over the last few months. It has listened to legal advice behind closed doors. It has heard evidence from the Department for the Economy which has said the change will have a cost implication for some businesses, but also makes the case that it can be eased over time.

The Fuel Industry UK has also told the committee the changes could affect filling stations and private pilots (!). There was also industry evidence that some businesses in GB could stop trading in Northern Ireland.

Responding to this in a letter to the committee on 11th December, the UK Government said it believes “there will be limited Northern Ireland-specific implications as a result of these changes.

The official from the Windsor Framework Taskforce also wrote, “For the avoidance of doubt, the Government has every expectation that the regulation in question will have no substantive impact on these trade flows, which will continue as before - in line with our steadfast commitment to protect the UK internal market. “

The Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee voted on the issue on the 12th December to decide if further action should be taken. The committee agreed the EU law change was significantly different than what has been in place before.

This is one of the conditions to indicate the need to start the process of pulling the Stormont Brake.

But a second condition is if the committee or MLAs believe an EU law will have a ‘significant impact specific to everyday life of communities in Northern Ireland in a way that is liable to persist.’

The committee was split on this. Unionist members voted that it would have a significant impact. Nationalists and Alliance MLAs voted against it.

The committee is well used to this unionist/ nationalist split. It’s how previous votes have gone over other EU laws and regulations.

But this time the DUP has decided there is enough evidence to raise a flag and to try to stop the new EU law applying in Northern Ireland.

The party gave notice to the Stormont Speaker yesterday that it was starting the Stormont Brake process. It needs 30 MLAs to sign a petition. As well as its own MLAs, the UUP, the TUV and Independent Claire Sugden are all understood to have signed it, so it has the numbers required.

The Speaker will need to notify the Secretary of State Hilary Benn of the petition.

The Secretary of State will then need to decide if the correct conditions for pulling the brake have been met.

That could be a crucial moment. If Hilary Benn says conditions have not been met, that will likely anger unionists.

If he does, then the UK Government must notify the European Commission Joint Committee and so would begin a whole new process, yet untested.

It is a test not only of the Stormont Brake process, but also for the Government.

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