DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has established a panel to gauge opinion on the Windsor Framework.
The consultation group includes former DUP leaders Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster, as well as people from business and the legal profession.
It will engage with unionists, businesses and civic society and will provide Sir Jeffrey with a report by the end of March.
Read more: DUP issues statement after Ian Paisley says Windsor Framework does not meet party's seven tests
The announcement comes a week after the UK and European Union unveiled their new deal on Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
The DUP, which has been blocking Stormont power-sharing in protest against the protocol, has said it will study the agreement in detail before reaching a "collective" decision on whether to end its boycott.
The new consultation group includes:
- Peter Robinson, a former DUP leader
- Dame Arlene Foster, a former DUP leader
- Carla Lockhart, DUP MP for Upper Bann
- Peter Weir, former Education Minister and now a DUP member of the House of Lords
- John McBurney, a solicitor from Co Down
- Ross Reed, a former chair of the Confederation of British Industry in Northern Ireland and a business owner in haulage/warehouse sector
- Brian Kingston, a DUP MLA for North Belfast
- Deborah Erskine, DUP MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Sir Jeffrey described the consultation group as having a mix of political, legal and business experience.
The Lagan Valley MP said the panel will work in parallel with his party's continuing engagement with the UK government.
He said: "They will want to engage with a broad section of the unionist and loyalist community, the business sector, civic society and others who want to see Northern Ireland prosper within the Union."
The DUP leader added: "The group will work independently and will provide me with a report by the end of March.
"History teaches us that it is always better to get the right outcome for Northern Ireland rather than a rushed one."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the Windsor Framework last week after months of intensive negotiations aimed at reducing checks on Irish Sea trade checks created under the protocol.
The agreement includes a new red and green-lane system for trade and a "Stormont brake" for MLAs to have a say on future changes to EU goods rules applying to Northern Ireland.
Mr Sunak has also committed to amending the 1998 Northern Ireland Act to provide further reassurance to unionists about the region's constitutional status within the UK.
Some prominent DUP figures, including Lord Nigel Dodds and MPs Sammy Wilson and Ian Paisley, have already suggested the deal potentially does not go far enough to address their concerns over trade and sovereignty.
Last week a report from a unionist think tank that Mr Paisley chairs rejected the new deal, saying it offers "no sound basis" for the DUP returning to power-sharing.
But the report, co-authored by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, said the Windsor deal was a "significant step forward" which could "with some necessary improvements" resolve unionist concerns.
London and Brussels are both keen to see the Stormont institutions restored ahead of next month's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Sir Jeffrey said having Stormont working again for the anniversary of the peace deal was not a deadline he was working to.
He told broadcasters: "That is not a factor in my thinking, I am not in fact working to any deadline, I’m saying that what we want to complete our process is analysing and assessment of the framework, get the professional advice that we’ve sought, consult with people, key stakeholders, and then come to a view as a party,” he said.
“Whether we will have made enough progress in terms of legislation and other matters before the end of this month is beyond my control, so I’m not setting the end of March as the deadline, I’m saying we want to complete our processes before the end of this month, and as for the 25th anniversary of the agreement, not even a remote factor in my thinking. That is just not something I’m taking into account at all.
"I want to get this right, and however long that takes, it is important we get it right."
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