Draft Radio Equipment (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025

Parliament voted on 19 November 2025 to approve the Draft Radio Equipment (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025, passing by 376 votes to 16 in Division 360. The regulations extend EU cybersecurity and safety requirements for internet-connected radio equipment, covering products such as smartphones, fitness trackers, baby monitors, and other smart devices, to Northern Ireland. The requirements originate from Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30, which came into force on 1 August 2025. The vote gives legal effect in Northern Ireland to EU rules requiring that certain categories of internet-connected radio equipment meet additional essential requirements around cybersecurity, privacy, and safety. These rules already apply in the EU single market, and under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland remains subject to the EU radio equipment directive. Manufacturers and retailers selling such products in Northern Ireland are obliged to comply. The government minister, Kate Dearden, noted that many businesses had already adapted ahead of the August deadline, and that no significant economic impact had been identified. The vote divided sharply along Brexit-related lines rather than traditional left-right ones. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens all voted in favour, while the Democratic Unionist Party and Reform UK provided the bulk of the 16 votes against, alongside two Conservative MPs and one each from the independent benches and the Restore Britain grouping. The majority of Conservative MPs had no vote recorded. The DUP's Jim Allister used the debate to argue that the Windsor Framework imposes EU law on Northern Ireland without democratic consent, illustrating a persistent tension between post-Brexit constitutional arrangements and unionist opposition in the province.