The European Union is moving forward with preparations for a new joint declaration with the United Kingdom clarifying the application of the Windsor Framework, which governs important aspects of post-Brexit trade involving Northern Ireland.

The Council of the European Union's Working Party on the United Kingdom is meeting in Brussels on Friday, 11 September 2026, with documents concerning a compromise on the EU position regarding Article 5 of the Windsor Framework among the material under consideration.

Official documents show that the issue concerns the interpretation of customs-related rules applying to goods entering Northern Ireland.

At the centre of the discussions is a handling fee associated with services involved in processing requests for the release for free circulation of goods sold through distance sales.

The European Commission has proposed that the European Union and United Kingdom jointly clarify how Article 5 of the Windsor Framework applies to such a fee.

Article 5 establishes important customs rules for goods entering Northern Ireland. In principle, goods transported directly from another part of the United Kingdom into Northern Ireland which are not at risk of subsequently moving into the European Union are not subject to customs duties.

For certain goods entering Northern Ireland from outside the European Union and other parts of the United Kingdom, the applicable treatment depends on their destination and the risk that they may subsequently enter the EU single market.

The proposed declaration seeks to clarify that the principles established by Article 5 also extend to a handling fee created under Union law to cover services associated with processing a request to release distance-sale goods for free circulation. Those services can include checking submitted information, conducting risk analysis and, when necessary, documentary or physical controls.

The proposed text indicates that goods transported directly into Northern Ireland which are not at risk of subsequently moving into the European Union should not face such a financial charge merely as a consequence of EU customs law.

Another part of the clarification concerns the proceeds from such charges. Article 5(6) of the Windsor Framework provides that customs duties collected by the United Kingdom under relevant Union customs legislation are not remitted to the European Union. The draft joint declaration seeks to clarify that the same principle applies in full to proceeds from the handling fee covered by the declaration.

The issue is technical but directly connected to the special trading system created for Northern Ireland following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. The United Kingdom left the EU single market and customs union, while avoiding a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remained a central objective of agreements between London and Brussels.

In 2023, the European Union and United Kingdom agreed the Windsor Framework, changing how a number of rules operate and introducing new mechanisms governing the movement of goods. The framework attempts to balance Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom's customs territory with certain EU rules that continue to apply to protect the single market.

The European Commission presented its original proposal for the Union's position on 27 July 2026. The document has since progressed through the Council's preparatory process. For the 11 September meeting, the Council lists a Presidency compromise proposal dated 9 September covering both the draft Council decision and the annex containing the proposed joint declaration.

The process should not be confused with final adoption of the EU-UK declaration. The documents under consideration establish the position the European Union intends to take within the Joint Committee created by the Withdrawal Agreement. The declaration itself is intended to be made jointly by the European Union and the United Kingdom within that Joint Committee.

According to the Commission proposal, once made within the Joint Committee, the declaration should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in the interests of legal certainty and transparency. The 11 September meeting represents another stage in that process; any subsequent adoption within the Joint Committee would establish the final form of the clarification.

Source consulted: COM(2026) 403 final — European Commission (proposal for a Council Decision on Article 5 of the Windsor Framework).