The Stormont brake is a clause in the Windsor Framework which plans to give a future Stormont Assembly a greater say on how EU laws apply to Northern Ireland – a key demand of the Democratic Unionist Party’s before it will end its boycott of power-sharing.
Under the protocol agreed by the UK and EU back in 2019, some EU laws on goods and customs apply in Northern Ireland but politicians at Stormont had no formal way to influence those rules.
The Stormont brake would allow members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to object if they felt new EU rules were damaging to Northern Ireland.
The process would be triggered if at least 30 Stormont politicians from two or more parties sign a petition.
A successful petition would mean the UK government at Westminster would then be in a position to challenge the new rule.
Once the UK tells the EU the Stormont brake has been triggered, the rule cannot be implemented.