Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026

Lord Hunt of Wirral Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)]

My Lords, we are grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this important debate. I join the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for giving us this opportunity.

The origins of the Windsor Framework lay in the desire of the previous Government to address the consequences of what was a deeply flawed protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, negotiated in October 2019. Within a short time of the protocol coming into force in January 2021, those consequences had become all too apparent. It disrupted trade, damaged businesses and imposed additional costs and inconvenience on customers and consumers. The Windsor Framework was a serious and, in my view, valiant attempt by the Government led by the former Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to address those problems. It was motivated by a desire to reduce significantly the checks on goods introduced by the protocol, to protect Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom internal market and to reinforce Northern Ireland’s position as an integral part of the United Kingdom.

Taken together with the January 2024 Command Paper, Safeguarding the Union, the framework ameliorated some of the worst effects of the protocol. It facilitated a freer flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and contributed to the restoration of devolved government at Stormont in February 2024. We should not lose sight of the importance of either achievement. However, acknowledging those achievements does not require us to pretend that every underlying problem was resolved. Significant difficulties remain, including regulatory divergence, trade diversion and, as several speakers have pointed out, the imposition on Northern Ireland businesses of laws made outside the United Kingdom’s democratic institutions.

The regulations before us demonstrate precisely why those unresolved issues still matter. As has been explained, they give domestic enforcement effect in Northern Ireland to regulation (EU) 2023/1230. Northern Ireland manufacturers will be legally required to comply with that regulation, while equivalent businesses in Great Britain will not necessarily be subject to the same legal obligations. That raises both an economic and a democratic concern. Northern Ireland businesses may face higher costs when manufacturing goods for sale in their principal market in Great Britain. At the same time, they will be bound by rules that neither this Parliament nor the Northern Ireland Assembly made, can amend or can repeal. They are being made rule-takers, not rule-makers.

The central question for the Minister is therefore whether the requirements being enforced by these regulations will significantly increase the costs of production in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of the United Kingdom. If they do, Northern Ireland goods could become less competitive in the Great Britain market, despite enjoying formal unfettered access to it.

Legal access is not the same as commercial competitiveness. A Northern Ireland manufacturer may retain the right to place a product on the Great Britain market, but that right is of limited value if the cost of conformity assessment, certification, technical documentation, product labelling and continuing compliance makes that product more expensive than an equivalent manufactured in Great Britain. We therefore look forward to the Minister’s explanation. Can he shed some light on this important area? What assessment has been made of the cumulative costs that regulation (EU) 2023/1230 will impose on Northern Ireland manufacturers? How do those costs compare with those faced by equivalent firms in Great Britain? How many affected businesses are small or medium-sized enterprises? Above all, what steps will the Government take if this new regulatory divergence makes Northern Ireland goods less competitive within their own United Kingdom internal market?

As virtually every speaker has set out, this is a magnificent and welcome opportunity for the Government to set out a clear policy in this area and make the Windsor Framework even more relevant today than it was when it was thought through by the Rishi Sunak Government.