Council sets EU position on Windsor Framework customs fee clarification

The Council of the European Union has fixed the position the European Union will take within the Joint Committee on a joint declaration with the United Kingdom extending Article 5 of the Windsor Framework to the handling fee charged on goods sold in distance sales. The decision was adopted on 1 October 2026 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5 October 2026 as Council Decision (EU) 2026/2232. The draft joint declaration is annexed to the decision and would be made at the next meeting of the Joint Committee.

The Windsor Framework is the name given to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland under Joint Declaration No 1/2023 of 24 March 2023, and it forms an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement by virtue of Article 182 of that agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement was concluded by the Union on 30 January 2020 through Council Decision (EU) 2020/135 and entered into force on 1 February 2020. The Joint Committee that oversees it is established under Article 164(1) of the agreement.

What the joint declaration clarifies

The declaration is intended to confirm that the provisions of Article 5 of the Windsor Framework on the payment, collection and remittance of customs duties also cover a handling fee established by Union law for processing a request to release goods sold in a distance sale for free circulation. Article 5(1) already provides that no customs duties are payable on goods brought by direct transport into Northern Ireland from another part of the United Kingdom that are not at risk of being moved into the Union, and that goods arriving from outside are subject to the duties applicable in the United Kingdom.

The draft text states that Article 5(1) should be understood as applying to a handling fee covering the cost of services such as:

• checking the data provided by the operator;
• carrying out risk analysis;
• performing documentary and physical controls when needed.

The handling fee at issue

The fee in question is the Union handling fee introduced by Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 of 16 September 2026, which establishes the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority and repeals Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. That regulation provides for a fixed amount per item for goods sold in distance sales, with a lower fee where goods are released from customs warehouses for distance sales, and makes the debtor of the fee the same person as the debtor of the customs debt.

Under Article 5(6) of the Windsor Framework, customs duties levied by the United Kingdom in line with Union customs legislation are not remitted to the Union. The draft declaration states that this provision should apply in its entirety to the proceeds of a handling fee of that nature, so that the revenue remains with the United Kingdom. The text links the clarification to the parties’ obligations as members of the World Trade Organization.

Legal basis and procedure

The decision rests on Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, read together with Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and follows a proposal from the European Commission. The Council notes that the joint declaration, if made within the Joint Committee, will constitute an act having legal effects within the meaning of Article 218(9).

Article 1 of the decision sets out that the Union’s position is the one contained in the attached draft joint declaration. Article 2 states that the decision enters into force on the date of its adoption. It was done at Luxembourg on 1 October 2026 and signed for the Council by its President, J. O’Callaghan.

The clarification matters for traders moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, because it determines whether the new Union handling fee on distance sales is treated like a customs duty under the Windsor Framework and whether its proceeds stay in the United Kingdom. It also removes a source of legal uncertainty for operators ahead of the next Joint Committee meeting, where the declaration is to be made.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, No 2026/2232, 5 October 2026 (official reference: Council Decision (EU) 2026/2232).