Written question AQW 48027/22-27
Written question by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on .
- MLA
- Dr Steve Aiken OBE
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 5 June 2026
- Type
- Written question
- Assembly reference
- AQW 48027/22-27
- Department
- Department for the Economy
- Business
- To the Minister for the Economy
- Assembly identifier
- Document 488744
Read the official Assembly record Open Data source
Text
To ask the Minister for the Economy, in light of the COM/2026/100 proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework of measures for the acceleration of industrial capacity and decarbonisation in strategic sectors, and Regulations (EU) 2018/1724, (EU)2024/1735 and (EU) 2024/3110, to detail (i) any direction he is giving on public procurement given that foreign direct investment exceeding €100 million must be sourced from made in EU sources and must be sourced from companies with a workforce comprising of at least 50 per cent EU workers; and (ii) whether his Department has made any assessment of how this proposed Regulation is compatible with the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework arrangements on internal United Kingdom trade diversion and distortion.
118 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.07 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.90).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-qualifying threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.06 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.90 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.07 | At or below not-qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.84 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.12 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 07:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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