Member's statement: UK-EU Reset

Member's statement by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on 27 April 2026.

MLA

Dr Steve Aiken OBE

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

27 April 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

UK-EU Reset

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5508104

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Last week, the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee held a series of meetings in Brussels. The Sinn Féin, DUP and UUP members met representatives from our excellent Northern Ireland Executive Office in Brussels and members of the European Parliament Committees for both agriculture and competitiveness. We also met representatives from the UK and Irish missions.

The main topic of discussion was the forthcoming UK-EU meeting on the reset. There are three clear issues within the reset, the first and second of which were part of the UK's main asks.

The first issue is the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, which most believed was largely on track, although some derogations have yet to emerge from the tunnel. The second issue relates to carbon adjustment mechanisms. Members will have noted the imposition of the emissions trading scheme on the maritime sector, which will add up to 6% on our shipping costs from 1 July. That was seen by the European Union as a mark of faithful implementation, despite its impact on costs within Northern Ireland. As is the case with the SPS agreement, the carbon adjustment mechanism was largely seen as being a done deal. Finally, the main EU ask from the UK is on youth movement. It is being seen as much more problematic to deliver, and concerns over it, especially on dynamic alignment, may delay any formal agreement, this summer. It was unfortunate that our Alliance members were not there to hear the concerns about the Union Customs Code, aka the catchily named "Alliance tax", which is a duty that will be paid on all non-GB or EU parcels, with an administration charge added later in the year. Much like with the implementation of the Irish Sea carbon tax, the EU fully expects the implementation of the Alliance tax to be made as a matter of good faith by the UK, although there was no answer to questions on where the close on €100 million of duty and administration tax will go. Across the EU, the administration charge will go to funding new EU customs organisations, something that we currently have no oversight of. One thing that I did have oversight of was an 'Emily in Paris' anti-fashionista movement. France has pre-empted the imposition of the Union Customs Code by charging €2 per item rather than per parcel. The Document Administratif Unique (DAU) Francaise 2026 means that, if Emily or Mindy, or even Sylvie, secretly, wanted to order from Temu or SHEIN — other brands are available — on an order of three quarters of matched items, it will cost them a minimum of €8 in duty. If that formula is used here, it will not just be fast-fashion teenagers who will be up in arms. This July, the combination of the Union Customs Code and the maritime carbon tax are going to add substantially to the costs for the Northern Ireland consumer. Faithful implementation has a direct cost — one to which the people of Northern Ireland did not sign up.

502 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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