Description
Multiple aspects of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) – Brexit – have raised questions of political legitimacy. Attracting particular attention have been the arrangements established by the Protocol on Ireland/Northen Ireland, now ‘Windsor Framework’. Designed inter alia to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, these arrangements involve the application in Northern Ireland (NI) of EU acts governing customs and the free movement of goods. This regulatory alignment is also dynamic; amendments and replacement acts apply automatically and without UK involvement in their adoption. This has been the subject of considerable contestation with extensive concerns being raised about the ‘democratic deficit’ of the arrangements.
Drawing on the concept of throughput legitimacy, the paper assesses the contribution of EU, UK and joint EU-UK structures and processes that have been developed to address these concerns during the implementation of the Protocol/Windsor Framework since 2000. The paper focuses on the initial informal and over time increasingly formalised engagement of EU and UK officials with civic and business stakeholders from Northern Ireland. Drawing on official statements as well as privileged insights into the evolution and operation of the engagement, the paper considers the role that stakeholders have played in identifying issues of concern regarding the operation of the Windsor Framework and contributing to problem-solving by the EU and UK. Drawing on regular polling of NI voters’ views, the paper provides an initial assessment of the impact of stakeholder engagement on the legitimacy of the Windsor Framework arrangements.
