Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an application by a country to become party to the EEA Agreement requires the agreement of each individual EU member state or of the Council of the EU; and, if the latter, whether the matter would have to be decided by unanimity or by qualified majority.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
To become party to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement a State must first be in either the EU or European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Applications are made to the EEA Council leading to an agreement which is subject to unanimous agreement and subsequent ratification by all Contracting Parties.
As the Prime Minister has made clear, we will not be remaining a member of the Single Market and do not intend to rejoin the EEA.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which EU governments have publicly indicated that the existing rights of British citizens resident in their territory will be preserved after the UK has left the EU; and the terms in which they have done so.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Prime Minister has made it clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in EU member states were not protected in return. To date, we are not aware of any member state reaching a formal view on this issue. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the people of the United Kingdom.