Brexit & Beyond newsletter

4 February 2025

Welcome to the 4 February 2025 Brexit & Beyond newsletter

Last week, the Assembly received an update on the 42nd Summit of the British- Irish Council. It also approved the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025.

The Committee for the Economy received a briefing from departmental officials on the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. The Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee received legal advice and considered departmental evidence on two EU acts but decided not to conduct inquiries into these Acts.

The UK government issued guidance on how to move non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods that need sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

At Westminster, the House of Lords Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee was appointed last Thursday.

The 5th anniversary of Brexit was marked with debates at the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru

British-Irish Council: 42nd Summit

Last Tuesday, the Deputy First Minister made a statement to the Assembly on the 42nd British-Irish Council summit which took place on 6 December 2024 in Edinburgh, hosted by the Scottish Government. Marking the 25th anniversary of the Council’s first meeting, the Deputy First Minister told Members the summit focused on financing a just transition towards net zero. Delegates included leaders from the UK, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Crown Dependency governments. The UK Government delegation was led by the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer; the Irish Government delegation was led by the Taoiseach, Simon Harris.

The deputy First Minister updates the Assembly on the 42nd British-Irish Council summit

 Discussions centred on decarbonisation, reducing greenhouse gases, and attracting investment in renewable energy to support economic growth. The First Minister and deputy First Minister emphasised the importance of collaboration with businesses and farming communities, alongside ensuring fairness in the transition. They also highlighted Northern Ireland’s climate, including its Climate Change Act and net zero accelerator fund.

The Deputy First Minister Members told the Assembly that Council Members also provided updates on domestic policies, economic growth, and international matters, with the Northern Ireland Executive sharing progress on its Programme for Government and fiscal challenges. The Council welcomed improved intergovernmental relations and reaffirmed its commitment to fostering cooperation. The next summit will be hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive in June 2025.

 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025

Also on Tuesday, the Assembly approved the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025. This instrument makes amendments to the legislation which gives effect to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (the “UK ETS”) which is a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme to incentivise emissions reductions in line with the UK’s net zero targets.

Under the UK ETS, participants are required to monitor, report on, and surrender allowances in respect of their greenhouse gas emissions. Participating operators at risk of carbon leakage are given a certain number of UK ETS allowances for free, to manage their exposure to the carbon price and the risk that business’ decarbonisation efforts could be undermined by higher-carbon imports.

The Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs told the Members that the proposals outlined in the Order were part of a UK-wide consultation on review of these free allocations.  The consultation aimed to refine the free allocation methodology for stationary sectors (i.e. energy intensive industries and electricity generators), focusing on better supporting those most vulnerable to carbon leakage.

The Minister said the Order will make two technical and operational changes to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme that relate to the treatment and definition of stationary installations that permanently cease to undertake an activity that is regulated by the scheme. The Minister said: “The amendment will help to ensure that the scheme continues to play its part in incentivising greenhouse gas emissions reduction in Northern Ireland and across the rest of the United Kingdom.”

Patsy McGlone (SDLP) said “The Order strengthens the integrity of the trading scheme and prevents companies from seeking loopholes that would undermine our climate commitment goals. It sends an important message that all emissions, regardless of source, must be managed responsibly. Furthermore, the legislation introduces valuable reforms around reserve allowances, which provide certainty for our industries while ensuring that the system remains robust as we transition to a lower-carbon economy.”
                                       

Product Regulation and Metrology Bill

Last Wednesday, the Committee for the Economy received departmental briefings on the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. The Bill relates to the UK product safety, regulation and metrology framework. It deals with a miscellaneous range of matters: product safety, manufacturers’ responsibilities, compliance and enforcement of standards, and the metrology framework “which governs the accuracy of weights and measures for purchased goods.”  The Committee was told the Bill’s passage through the legislative process at Westminster has not been smooth because of its potential implications for UK-EU alignment, trade and devolution.

The Committee heard the Lord Leong wrote to the Economy Minister on 4 September 2024 to advise the UK Government had introduced the Bill to the House of Lords that day. The Committee was told there had been no previous engagement with the Economy Minister and the Committee heard he is unable to support a legislative consent motion (LCM), that is, a motion to seek the Assembly’s consent to the UK Government legislating on a devolved matter. Departmental officials told the Committee the Bill is primarily a piece of enabling legislation which confers “broad and largely unchecked” powers on the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to use statutory instruments to legislate on devolved matters without the need to seek the consent of the Assembly. There is also a concern around other departmental interests – such as DAERA – however, only Minister Murphy received the request to support the LCM.

Writing on the Bill for UK in a Changing Europe in October 2024, Joël Reland said “This is a powerful piece of law which would allow the UK to unilaterally align with EU regulations related to the environmental impact of products. It is not entirely clear which EU regulations are in scope, nor how government intends to use the powers in practice; and Parliament has an important role to play in clarifying these ambiguities.

The key passage is Clause 1(2). It grants the Secretary of State powers to “make provision… which corresponds, or is similar, to a provision of relevant EU law for the purpose of reducing or mitigating the environmental impact of products.”

This means the Business Secretary has the power to mirror EU product regulations in UK law, so long as certain conditions are met.”

 

Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee

Last Thursday, the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee received legal advice and considered departmental evidence on two EU acts – on packaging waste; and on firearms.

The European Commission has proposed that the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) replace the existing Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC (PPWD) and also amends the Single Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 (SUPD). The UK Government Explanatory Memorandum states:

“PPWR will introduce new requirements for the entire lifecycle of packaging as regards its environmental sustainability. The Regulation aims to increase the sustainability of packaging and minimise the use of unnecessary packaging through (inter alia) recycled content targets, re-use and refill systems, and measures aimed at packaging minimisation.

To facilitate dual access to the UK Internal Market and the EU Single Market, Northern Ireland applies certain EU rules relating to packaging and packaging waste. Accordingly, PPWR will apply in Northern Ireland under Article 13(3) of the Windsor Framework, to the extent that the measures within it (specified in paragraph 19 below) are in scope, subject to the democratic scrutiny mechanisms in Schedule 6B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.”

According to the UK Government’s Explanatory Memorandum, Regulation (EU) 2025/41 on import, export and transit measures for firearms, essential components and ammunition, “addresses challenges related to the tracing and illicit trafficking of civilian firearms by setting common definitions, rules and principles for export, import and transit procedures. The strategic objective is to reduce the risk of illicit trafficking in firearms for civilian use by ensuring coherence across Member States in rules on external trade in line with Article 10 of the UN Firearms Protocol.”

The Committee decided not to conduct inquiries into these EU acts.

 

House of Lords Northern Ireland scrutiny committee

In October 2024, the House of Lords Liaison Committee recommended establishing a new committee to focus on the scrutiny of Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee was appointed last Thursday (30 January). The new committee has a remit “to scrutinise EU legislation within the scope of the Protocol/Windsor Framework, and relevant UK legislation and policy, and to examine related matters.”

 Chair of the House of Lords Northern Ireland scrutiny committee, Lord Carlile of Berriew

 The Chair of the Committee is Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench). The other Members of the Committee are:

 
The Chair of the Committee, Lord Carlile said:
 
“As Chair of the new Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee, I am looking forward to beginning our important work. We will aim to provide clarity for business and the public in relation to the Windsor Framework. The Committee will build upon the work of the Windsor Framework Sub-Committee from the last Parliament, closely examining the impact of the arrangements on all affected sectors of the Northern Ireland economy, as well as their wider effects on social and political life. In doing so, the Committee will assist and inform Parliament and promote the best interests of Northern Ireland.”

Lord Carlile will meet the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee on Thursday. 

 

Status of retained EU law

In the House of Lords on Tuesday, Baroness Gustafsson, the Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade and Treasury, said: “the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 largely removed the special status of REUL at the end of 31 December 2023, and REUL that had not yet been revoked became assimilated law.”

Regarding UK-EU relations, she said of the UK Government:

“We are resetting the relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties, secure a broad-based security pact and tackle barriers to trade. We are working with the EU to identify areas where we can strengthen co-operation for mutual benefit, such as the economy, energy security and resilience. There will be issues that are difficult to resolve as well as areas that we will stand firm on, and we have been clear that there will be no return to freedom of movement, to the customs union or to the single market. We will work together and with respect to international law and shared institutions.”

Regarding the UK REACH programme, the Baroness noted the consultation on an alternative transitional registration model for the UK REACH chemicals regime and confirmed the Government will publish a response this year.

 

 The UK-EU reset

As part of its inquiry into the UK-EU reset, the House of Lords European Affairs Committee took oral evidence from the following panel of academics:

  • Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of European and Employment Law, University of Cambridge, and senior fellow at UK in a Changing Europe;
  • Sir Richard Aikens, retired judge at Brick Court Chambers;
  • Professor Graham Butler, Full Professor of Law at University of Southern Denmark, and Linnaeus University, Sweden

Professor Barnard likened the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) to a sandwich: it has a framework which has common provisions across the top and common provisions across the bottom, and those common provisions frame the meat in the middle. She noted “more meat can be added to that sandwich.” She directed the Committee to look at Article 2 of the TCA, entitled “Supplementing agreements”. It states: “Where the Union and the United Kingdom conclude other bilateral agreements between them, such agreements shall constitute supplementing agreements”.

Professor Barnard posited the question then is: how do you come about with that meat? There are a couple of ways.

  1. The Partnership Council under Article 7 has powers to amend the agreement where the text of the TCA provides it.
  2. It is also possible to amend the agreement through the usual routes that the EU adopts for any international agreement. That the Council gives a mandate to, usually, the European Commission to act as negotiator for any changes, any international agreements and any agreement that the Commission negotiates. It has to be able to point to a legal basis—a power in the treaty to enable the EU to act in a particular area. If an agreement is reached, then the Council will have to approve it. Depending on its content, it might also need to be approved by the member states as well. That is for areas within the broad framework of the TCA.

Sir Richard Aikens told the Committee it is not going to be possible to make amendments to the TCA which are attempts to go outside its framework. He continued:

“So far as UK law is concerned, anything that is agreed between the United Kingdom and any other outside legal entity such as another state or the EU, which is recognised as a legal entity for these purposes, cannot have effect in UK law unless it is given effect by an Act of Parliament. That could either be done by a new Act of Parliament, or it could be done if there is power to do so under an existing Act of Parliament. I think in a case like this, if you really did want to make significant amendment to the TCA, it would require a new Act of Parliament.”

Asked directly about the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill (see above), Sir Richard Aikens noted Clause 1(2), which gives the Secretary of State power by regulation to “make provision, in relation to the marketing or use of products in the United Kingdom, which corresponds, or is similar, to a provision of relevant EU law for the purpose of reducing or mitigating the environmental impact of products”.

He continued: “Without that qualifying pass at the end of that proposed sub-clause, the powers that would be given to the Secretary of State would be immensely wide and would effectively push a cart and horses through the whole of the idea of Brexit, which was that we were going to get outside the EU’s control of such things as the regulations relating to the marketing or use of products.”

With regard to touring musicians, Professor Barnard said, “the problem at the moment is that they do not fall into any of any of the categories that you find in the annexe to the TCA enabling them to move. There are provisions on, for example, short-term business visitors and, if you look at the list of who is covered as a short-term business visitor, musicians are not there, nor are they there under independent professionals.”

 

Youth Mobility Scheme

 Last Wednesday, the House of Commons had a Westminster Hall debate on the potential merits of a Youth Mobility Scheme between the EU and the UK. Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat) asked why there is no youth mobility scheme with the EU when the UK has similar schemes in place with 13 countries, stating: “It would once again allow young people across the UK to be able to spend time with our nearest neighbours without having to navigate Brexit red tape. A youth mobility scheme with the EU would open up opportunities for British young people to learn new skills, languages and cultures and bring all that back with them to benefit our economy and our society.”

The following day, the House of Lords held debate on a youth mobility scheme. The Lord Bishop of St Albans said:

“Quite apart from the fact reintroducing youth mobility and cultural exchanges would be expedient for our foreign policy, there is the sheer demand for the restoration of these opportunities for our young people and the broader public. Polling in August 2024 found that 58% of the population think a youth mobility scheme is a good idea. There is a real demand for something like this. There has been a great loss to our young people just at the very time when they should be gaining new experiences and broadening their worldviews, making friends from people of other nations and cultures, with opportunities for travel, education and study abroad with our European partners.”

The UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly has previously wrote to the UK-EU Partnership Council which oversees the Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the issue of youth mobility schemes.  The Partnership Council’s response states that the UK and EU were unable to agree on such provisions during the negotiations on the TCA in 2020.  

 

 

Moving non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

Yesterday (3 February), the UK government issued guidance on how to move non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods (goods that do not meet the requirements to be qualifying Northern Ireland goods, such as goods from the EU) that need sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

From 24 February 2025, non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods that enter Great Britain  from Northern Ireland will move under SPS controls. For example, they will need to complete a pre-notification on the import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS) and provide relevant sanitary or phytosanitary certificates.

Qualifying Northern Ireland goods continue to benefit from unfettered market access if they enter Great Britain directly from Northern Ireland or indirectly through Ireland.
                                       

Brexit and the devolved institutions – five years on

Last Tuesday, the Scottish Parliament debated a motion put forward by Clare Adamson MSP (SNP), marking five years since Brexit. She argued that Brexit was pursued without a clear growth plan, citing significant economic harm including reduced trade, higher food prices, and challenges for small businesses navigating the new export regime. Clare Adamson MSP emphasized that Brexit was against Scotland's democratic wishes, as all local authorities in Scotland voted to remain in the EU. She highlighted the negative effects on public services, arts, and cultural exchanges.

Tim Eagle MSP (Conservative) acknowledged challenges but emphasized potential benefits for farmers and fishermen outside EU policies, arguing Brexit provided opportunities for Scotland to design its agricultural policies independently.

Foysol Choudhury MSP (Labour) suggested improving existing Brexit agreements rather than rejoining the EU, advocating for practical measures like enhancing trade and easing restrictions for touring artists.

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson MSP, concluded that Brexit had caused significant economic damage to Scotland, reducing GDP and harming trade and cultural ties. He called for Scotland to eventually rejoin the EU as an independent country, reaffirming the need for closer UK-EU relations in the interim.

Last Wednesday, at the Senedd Cymru, there was a Plaid Cymru debate on “Brexit and the future relationship with the EU”. Adam Price MS (Plaid Cymru) said “Brexit has not worked for us” and argued for a strategy with the primary objective of rejoining the single market and the customs union. He continued: “A policy of alignment would have three benefits: it would mean we kept up with world-leading standards in areas like environmental protection; it would directly help Welsh businesses in accessing European markets as seamlessly as possible in those areas of product regulation where we have competence; and it would send a positive pro-European message, which will help us market Wales to investors, customers and partners in Europe.”

Other news

 

  • Yesterday (3 February) the Prime Minister Keir Starmer became the first UK Prime Minister to join a European Union summit since Brexit when he attended a dinner at the Palais d’Egmont with 27 leaders in Brussels. He was invited by the President of the Council António Costa.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
  • In Brussels yesterday, the Prime Minister met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The Prime Minister updated on his desire to see a stronger UK-EU security partnership to tackle these threats, which will increase co-operation and bolster NATO further.                                                                                                                                                                     
  • Today, Nick Thomas-Symonds and Maroš Šefčovič met in Brussels after giving speeches at the UK-EU Forum’s annual conference.                                                                                                                                                                  
  • The Prime Minister will host EU leaders at a UK-EU summit in May. Last night European Council President António Costa said the summit would focus on devising “the closest relationship it will be possible to build together.”                                                       
  • The European Commission has appointed Peter Power as its new Head of Representation in the Republic of Ireland.                                                     
  • Last Thursday, HMRC published a fact sheet that summarises the key changes to business-to-business post and parcels arrangements that stakeholders can share with members, clients and relevant partners.