Overall responsibility for the implementation of the Protocol rests with the UK-EU Joint Committee that oversees implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement generally. It comprises EU and UK representatives at ministerial/Commissioner or senior official level. Its roles and responsibilities are set out in Article 164 of the Withdrawal Agreement. Chief among them is the adoption of formal Decisions (Article 166), several of which concerning the implementation of the Protocol were adopted in December 2020. A number of unilateral declarations concerning inter alia grace periods for the implementation of certain obligations under the Protocol was also adopted and noted.

The Joint Committee's rules of procedure are set out in Annex VIII to the Withdrawal Agreement. For discussions of its roles see Protocol Analysis.

The EU's position in the Joint Committee is determined in line with Article 2 of Council Decision (EU) 2020/135. The Decision also provides for member state representatives to accompany the Commission at meetings. Ireland is specifically mentioned, although representatives of other members have also attended meetings. 

The UK government is committed to ensuring that representatives from the Northern Ireland Executive are invited to be part of the UK delegation in any meetings of the Joint Committee discussing Northern Ireland-specific matters which are also being attended by the Irish Government as part of the EU delegation. It recalled the committment in the Windsor Framework, stating its intention 'to ensure full participation of the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom’s delegation to the Joint Committee, and in that context its determination to ensure that the application of the Windsor Framework should impact as little as possible on the everyday life of communities'.

The Withdrawal Agreement provides for annual meetings of the Joint Committee, but in practice it meets more frequently - four meetings were envisaged for 2021, for example - and between meetings there is often formal correspondence been the co-chairs from the UK government and the European Commission.

Details of the meetings and the correspondence between the co-chairs are provided below. NB there are inconsistencies in the numbering of the meetings in some statements. This depends whether the 'Extraordinary' meeting on 10 September 2020 is included. Following the sixth meeting in February 2021, the numbering includes the 'Extraordinary' meeting.  

The formal Decisions adopted and the unilateral declarations noted by the UK and the EU on the Joint Committee are available here.

The Joint Committee also produces an Annual Report. The first - the Annual Report for 2020 - was published in July 2021. Adoption and publication of the Annual Report for 2021 was delayed owing to the failure of the Joint Committee to meet for more than twelve months after February 2022. It was eventually published in April 2023. The Annual Report for 2022 was adopted in July 2023.