Brexit & Beyond newsletter

3 July 2023

Welcome to the 3 July 2023 Brexit & Beyond newsletter

Today in Brussels, both the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, and EU-UK Joint Committee are meeting. The Retained EU Law Bill finally passed the House of Lords and has received Royal Assent. QUB has published its latest poll on the Protocol / Windsor Framework. The Senedd continues its inquiry on EU-UK governance.

Meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee

The EU-UK Joint Committee met today (3 July). The Committee oversees the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement and adopted a decision to add two EU acts to Annex 2 of the Protocol/Windsor Framework. This new legislation facilitates the green lane for agri-food entering and staying in Northern Ireland, and will mean all medicines, including novel ones, will be available in NI under the same conditions as the rest of the UK. The European Union and the United Kingdom agreed “to continue meeting regularly to monitor and ensure the full implementation of all the elements of the Framework in a timely way”. European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who co-chair the Joint Committee, will remain in close and regular contact.  The co-chairs also adopted the Withdrawal Agreement Annual Report for 2022.

 European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly meeting today in Brussels

European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly meeting today in Brussels | Source: UK Government - Rory Arnold / FCDO

 

Third meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly

The EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA) also meets today and tomorrow in Brussels. Members of the UK Parliament and European Parliament are meeting to discuss topics including the future of foreign and security policy, climate and energy policy, support for Ukraine, and the response to the US Inflation Reduction Act. The PPA can make recommendations to the Partnership Council (which oversees the Trade and Cooperation Agreement). The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola will address the PPA, as will the UK Foreign Secretary, and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. Ahead of the visit, James Cleverly said, “This is a new chapter in the UK-EU relationship. We stand together in our support of Ukraine, and we want to maximise the opportunities of our trade deal. But we don’t have to agree on everything – a mature relationship can deal with differences.”

Meeting documents can be viewed here and the first session is currently being livestreamed.

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Baroness Margaret Ritchie are attending the PPA. MLAs Gordon Lyons (DUP) and Cathal Boylan (Sinn Féin) are attending from the NI Assembly as observers, along with observers from the Senedd and Scottish Parliament.

 The first meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. Nathalie Loiseau and Sir Oliver Heald co-chair the PPA

The first meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. Nathalie Loiseau and Sir Oliver Heald co-chair the PPA | Source: European Union 2022 - EP

 

UK Government’s assessment of EU-UK relations

The UK Government has published an implementation report on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) for the period January 2021 to December 2022. It considers EU-UK engagement through the formal structures of the TCA, progress implementing the agreement, and “areas where the UK has raised concerns regarding EU implementation.” The Government plans to publish such reports every two years.

The Government has also responded to a report from the Lords European Affairs Committee, which had called for a reset of EU-UK relations. The Government states that the UK and EU “are both committed to a positive, constructive relationship as partners...[and] intend to fully exploit the potential of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).” One of the recommendations from the committee was to enable devolved governments to participate in relevant EU-UK meetings. The Government says it has committed to convening the Interministerial Group (IMG) ahead of the TCA Partnership Council and the Joint Committee meetings.

 

Royal Assent for the Retained EU Law Bill

On 26 June, the Retained EU Law (REUL) Bill passed its final parliamentary stage, after several rallies of ping-pong and persistence by the Lords on their amendments for better parliamentary scrutiny of Ministers’ powers under the Bill, and for guarantees on environmental protection. The Bill received Royal Assent on 29 June and the final version has been published.

The Lords withdrew their amendments following government reassurances that it will seek expert advice when making changes to environmental legislation and have “due regard to the environmental principles policy statement when making policies using the Bill’s powers”, as required by the Environment Act. On Parliament’s role, Lord Callanan stated the Government will continue to follow the recommendations which the sifting committee makes regarding the scrutiny procedure for SIs made under the Bill. He said, “This will ensure that Members are able to debate all reforms which the committee considers merit the highest level of scrutiny.” Lord Callanan committed that where the Government makes significant reforms to retained EU law, it will “follow the usual protocols on public consultation.”

What does the Retained EU Law Act mean?

  • A schedule of almost 600 laws will be repealed at the end of 2023: the deadline for changes to the list is 31 October – these can be made by UK and devolved ministers (in devolved areas). The Commons European Scrutiny Committee has said, “almost without exception, the REUL detailed in the Schedule relates to matters that are trivial, obsolete and are not legally and/or politically important.”
  • Ministers have powers to make changes to REUL through repealing or replacing REUL with other laws as they consider appropriate.
  • The Act repeals directly effective EU law rights and obligations in UK law by the end of 2023.
  • It ends the supremacy of EU law and allows courts to depart from established EU case law.
  • There will be a sifting process for statutory instruments which make changes to REUL.
  • Domestic law giving effect to Article 2 rights “may be affected by the abolition of retained EU interpretive effects”. The Government expects it may be necessary to use powers to restate SIs relating to Article 2 “to codify any required effects.”
  • Ministers are required to report to Parliament on progress in revoking and reforming REUL.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill was also given Royal Assent on 29 June. Kemi Badenoch has pointed to the Bill as part of the reform agenda, saying it will repeal 500 pieces of REUL, along with the Procurement Bill.

 

QUB polling on the Windsor Framework

Queen’s University has published the results of its latest poll on the Protocol/Windsor Framework which was carried out on 9-12 June. It finds there has been some “warming” to the Windsor Framework: 61% see the Protocol with the Windsor Framework “as an appropriate means for managing the effects of Brexit on Northern Ireland”, up from 53% in February. 47% of voters have concerns about “the full operational scope and impact” of the Protocol/Windsor Framework (this figure is down from 58% in February 2023). The poll finds that a significant minority of NI voters remain opposed to the Protocol: 21% intend to only vote for candidates in the next Northern Ireland Assembly election who are in favour of scrapping the Protocol/Windsor Framework. At the end of 2024, a ‘democratic consent vote’ will be held on Articles 5-10 of the Protocol – i.e. the EU single market rules which apply to Northern Ireland.

 Overall assessment of the current impact of the Protocol/Windsor Framework

Overall assessment of the current impact of the Protocol/Windsor Framework | Source: QUB Post-Brexit Governance NI project

71% of respondents agree that the UK and the EU should increase engagement with stakeholders in Northern Ireland on the implementation of the Protocol/Windsor Framework. Respondents are almost evenly split, with 42% agreeing and 41% disagreeing, on the Stormont Brake and whether it “provides an appropriate means for MLAs to influence changes to Protocol-applicable EU law”.

 

Scrutiny of EU-UK governance

On 26 June, the Senedd Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee heard evidence on UK-EU governance. Dr Brigid Fowler of the Hansard Society remarked on the role of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. She said it was “developing into a useful forum” in identifying issues and potential solutions, as well as helping interpersonal relations. She added that there is a need for realism: these bodies are on the margins and cannot take decisions. The PPA may also be disrupted by upcoming EU and UK elections. Welsh Labour MS Alun Davies suggested the PPA “feels a bit inadequate…you meet up, you have debates, you have dinner, you have another debate and then you go home.”

Dr Lisa Whitten of Queen’s University Belfast commented on the Northern Ireland aspects of the governance institutions. She noted the Joint Consultative Working Group (JCWG) has been functioning “relatively effectively, notwithstanding political tensions.” The JCWG is where the EU informs the UK about new or changes to EU legislation which may apply to Northern Ireland. Professor Tobias Lock of Maynooth University suggested that the Windsor Framework has “shown how powerful these committees can be.” The Framework is implemented through Joint Committee decisions, some unilateral decisions, as well as EU and UK domestic legislation. He highlighted that there hasn't been a formal amendment to the Withdrawal Agreement which had to pass the European Parliament, and the UK Parliament: “None of that was necessary in order to change, quite fundamentally, the workings of the Protocol,” he said.

Whitten raised some “contradictions” or “tensions” between the common frameworks, the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 and the Office for the Internal Market. She commented, “I think complexity and an ad hoc manner of development are defining features of the quite intricate network of the institutions post-Brexit.” Whitten also emphasised the role of Northern Ireland stakeholders in raising issues and in engaging with both the UK Government and the European Commission “organically and from the bottom up”, which has been influential.

Dr Elin Royles of Aberystwyth University said there is the potential for devolved governments to circumvent central Government to get their voices heard in the EU, if the formal structures don’t allow for this.

Scottish visit to Brussels

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf was in Brussels last week. He met with MEPs, Scotland House (which represents Scottish interests in Europe), the Irish and New Zealand ambassadors to the EU, and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, among others. Yousaf highlighted Scotland’s desire to expand its close links with the EU and said, “Scotland remains steadfastly European and committed to working with our partners in the European Union.” Scotland and Flanders have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on areas of cooperation, including trade, research, culture and the environment.

 

Other news

  • A debate was held in the House of Commons on the fishing industry. Jim Shannon (DUP) argued that in upcoming negotiations with the EU on fisheries, “any access to UK inshore waters for EU vessels should be part of a reciprocal arrangement allowing Northern Ireland fishermen access to their traditional fisheries in EU waters.”
  • The Commons European Scrutiny Committee published its latest report on 27 June. It considers EU regulations (on fertilisers, substances of human origin, the Horizontal Excise Directive on alcohol, tobacco and fuel duty, and EU VAT measures) which may apply in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Windsor Framework/Protocol. It also considers proposed changes to the EU ‘Prüm’ rules on cross-border police cooperation.
  • The Independent Monitoring Authority, which oversees the UK’s commitment to protect the rights of EU citizens who were living in the UK before Brexit, has published its annual report to the Specialised Committee and the Joint Committee for 2022.

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